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Power, water crises:
no respite in sight
Ludhiana, September 11 The situation is back to the pre-monsoon period which saw an unprecedented water and power crises in Punjab forcing the government to impose severe power cuts across the board for the domestic as well as commercial consumers. Power was diverted to the farm sector to save the paddy and more was purchased from the national grid and southern states to deal with the situation. The condition is no better today. Power cuts ranging from two hours to six hours are the order of the day. Certain areas in the city have been without water for the past many days and no respite is in sight. “We do not have any magic wand to wish away the situation but ask people to grin and bear it,” remarked an official. Mr Y P Ghai, Director, Public Cause, said the unscheduled power cuts have thrown life out of gear. School children, office-goers and working people are the worst hit. Housewives have problems storing water for cleaning utensils while washing clothes and bathing have come to a halt. The main grouse is that the timings of water and power supply have not been publicised making it hard for people to plan their schedule accordingly, he pointed out. Official line is that the water level in the dams is low and it is necessary to enforce the cuts. Sources said the board was making all out efforts to ensure that power supply to the residential areas was not disrupted for more than three to four hours in a day, but the ground reality is that people had not had a sound sleep in days. The power cut for villages was over 12 hours. What is making the going tough for the residents is that the power cuts also affect the water supply in the city. Since the municipal authorities do not have the wherewithal to run the tubewells on gensets, water supply gets interrupted following unscheduled cuts. The civic authorities are planning to take up the matter with the top brass of the board so that they could be informed about the cuts in advance to enable the former to alter their supply timings. Officials admit that for the time being, erratic water and power supply will be the norm. Similarly, power supply to the residential areas being fed by the industrial feeders will also be affected. The unscheduled, unpredictable and unannounced power cuts have also cast their shadow over the industry. Entrepreneurs rue that they had hardly made up for the previous losses that the power cuts have once again become the norm. Previously, this uncertainty in power supply only during day time, now running night shifts have also become impossible. And all this while the temperature is still intolerable. Industrialists allege that the government was not taking any steps to improve the situation by remaining a mute spectator.
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Power situation grim: minister
Ludhiana, September 11 The state of power was a direct outcome of below expected rainfall this year. The power situation, he said, was getting worse and to fulfil the needs and demands of the people of Punjab, the state government was purchasing electric power to the tune of Rs. 14 crore per day from other sources, he said. He claimed that an interrupted power supply for eight hours was being made available to the farmers in the state for irrigation purposes. In reply to another question Mr Lal Singh said in order to compensate the Punjab farmers for the losses suffered due to the drought-like situation, the Punjab Government had demanded a sum of Rs 250 crore from the Centre, he added. The survey of the losses suffered by the farmers in the state was continuing, Mr Singh further said.
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Army canteen racket busted, 1 held
Ludhiana, September 11 The Army authorities have in a communication to the police expressed serious apprehensions on leak of sensitive military information by the suspect. Sources said the Army was holding investigation also as the involvement of some of the defence personnel in the racket had come to light during police investigation. The magnitude of the racket can be judged from the fact that each youth used to pocket about Rs 100 after supplying products worth Rs 2000 each time, making between Rs 2800-3000 per month. Three youths have been identified by the police besides a defence personnel and his wife. The SHO, Division No. 6, Harjinder Singh told Ludhiana Tribune that on a complaint filed by the local Army authorities, the division No. 6 police had registered a case under Sections 420, 465, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the IPC against Gurnam Singh of Mangli Tanda village falling under the jurisdiction of Koom Kalan police station, Jagpal Singh, J.S.Bhatia and Kuldeep Singh, who live in Moti Nagar. He said police investigations found that J.S. Bhatia, who owned a grocery shop was the kingpin. His son Vikramjit Singh Bhatia was allegedly expert in forging the stamps of military identity cards. A defence personnel, Swaran Singh, and his wife also supplied subsidised products to him, he added. Only one of the accused Gurnam Singh, who is in his early 20s, has been arrested so far he revealed that a person named Bholla had got his dependent Army CSD card made, which was issued to relatives of an Army person. He said he later came in contact with J.S. Bhatia, who made several I-cards and roped in other village youths including his brother Jagpal Singh. He claimed that certain military personnel were also supplying CSD products to shopkeepers outside at a commission of 5 per cent . Interestingly, his card was seized by the Army authorities twice but he managed to make new with help from Bhatia. The suspect used to buy products from Jalandhar, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Doraha and Ambala canteens.
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Park vehicles at own
risk
Ludhiana, September 11 Not only they fleece the residents by overcharging there but also they claim no responsibility about the vehicle parked under their supervision. To the utter shock of the persons using the parking lot, the parking receipts clearly state, ‘‘If it is stolen we would compensate for only half or even one-fourth price.’’ In most of the cases, contractors do not get their allotment number and even their names printed on the slips issued to the residents. Besides, the slip does not mention the parking fee and they charge people whatever they wish. The residents are forced to park their vehicles at some parking stand at least once a day as most of these have been given on contract. The receipt is nothing but a piece of paper as it does not have the licence or allotment number of the contractor. If a person loses his vehicle he does not know whom to contact to get the compensation. The smart parking lot contractors do not give the receipt forever and take it back just after one picks one’s vehicle from the stand. All contractors mention boldly in the printed slips that they are not responsible for the lost parts of the vehicle and if the vehicle is stolen they will not give full price to the owner. The compensation will also be given after a month or two. The receipts mention that if it is lost the person concerned has to pay a fine of Rs 20 or even more. After receiving several complaints from residents, a Tribune team conducted Inquiries revealed that the market association at Feroze Gandhi Market was unhappy with the contractor as they did not know who the contractor was as many people kept sitting in the market complex posing as contractors. Major Amarjit Singh, a resident, had parked his vehicle in Feroze Gandhi Market. The contractor asked Rs 10 as parking fee. When he protested, he was told to pay only Rs 5. ‘‘If nobody takes the responsibility of a parked vehicle why should we park at the authorised stands? ‘’ asks Mr Manjit Inder Singh, a local resident. He had parked his vehicle in the parking lot at Rose Garden and was shocked to learn that his vehicle was not safe inside.
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Strike in DMC
continues
Ludhiana, September 11 A cross section of people while talking to The Tribune regretted that the management of the DMC was going too soft with the striking employees who do not appear to have any respect for the human life. The striking employees had even forced out several patients from the emergency recently. Some of them were on ventilators, but even they were not spared. Hundreds of patients have to return disappointed everyday with the functioning of the hospital severely effected. While the heart centre remains locked, the routine of the DMC has also been effected. Today the employees again locked the gates of the heart centre. Prominent citizens demanded that the strike in hospitals should be banned and all employees should be asked to return to work. In case any employee or trade union leader tries to violate this then he should be dealt with firmly. Another reason being attributed to the situation getting complicated is its management. While Mr Brij Mohan Lall Munjal, Chairman and Managing Director of the Hero Group of Companies, is the president of the managing committee of the The situation in the DMC has got worsened in the past two years with some employees getting encouraged by the management’s indifference. So much so that they even bully doctors and officers of the hospital who have virtually been left powerless. Meanwhile, representatives of the management, including Mr Amrit Nagpal and Mr Prem Gupta and the members of the union, today held a meeting with the some senior officials of the district administration represented by Mr M.S. Jaggi, SDM (West), and Mr R.K. Jaiswal (SP City I). Another meeting has been fixed for tomorrow. But there appears to be no solution in sight as the patients continue to suffer.
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‘SGPC coins lack quality’
Ludhiana, September 11 Mr Balwinder Singh, a junior engineer, said it was proposed that only one gold coin to be issued to one person and SGPC secretary okayed the proposal. Following this, several devout Sikhs who had come to buy these coins, were disappointed, while employees of the SGPC, carrying slips of their seniors, were openly taking away ten coins at a time. Mr Balwinder Singh, who wanted to buy three gold coins, was given only one coin in spite of his repeated request. He was disappointed as it was found of extremely low quality. Moreover, the coin was given to him without any accompanying history as was done in the case of gold and silver coins issued at the time of the Khalsa tercentenary. Also, he was not given any receipt. Moreover, the gold coins, being currently sold by the SGPC in Amritsar only, were being given in a small sachet embroidered with the word Dwarka, which was the trade mark of the Jaipur-based company making the coins for the SGPC. While the gold coin lacks detail, the silver coin seems to be just a stamped lump of rounded silver. Mr Balwinder Singh also revealed that the first batch of 500 gold coins ordered by the SGPC was sold at the rate of Rs 6,250 per coin whereas the coins belonging to the second batch were being sold for Rs 6,400 each. He suggested that the SGPC should make these coins available at some other places also for the benefit of the public. Everyone could not travel to Amritsar to buy a gold or silver coin, he added.
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Public grievance removal system to get momentum
Ludhiana, September, 11 He was addressing the first meeting of the newly constituted District Grievances Removal Committee at the Bachat Bhavan here yesterday. At the meeting seven complaints pertaining to general public were discussed and the officers concerned were directed to take immediate action in this regard. The minister asked the members of the committee to submit the complaints of the people in writing to the administration so that these could be properly verified through the officers concerned and steps taken for its redressal. On a complaint regarding the damaged roads inside the bus stand, he asked the Municipal Commissioner to get the roads repaired within one and half months.
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Gang of robbers busted,
four held
Mandi Ahmedgarh, Mr Rajiv Ahir, SSP, Jagraon, said the gangsters, most of whom were well-educated youths and belonged to middle-class agrarian families, had taken to anti-social activities to meet their addiction expenses. The gang was busted after some of its members attempted to rob a transporter of nearby Lehra village, situated on the Ludhiana-Malerkotla road. A youth from Lehra village had informed the gangsters that Sukhwinder Singh, a transporter of the village, used to bring a lot of cash from his office in Ludhiana. On Thursday night, when he, along with his associate, Jagdev Singh of Roshiana village, was returning from office in his tanker (HR 38 B 1091), he was intercepted by a group of gangsters armed with crude weapons near Dehlon village. The gangsters chased them up to Lehra village when the driver turned his vehicle on a side road. Four youths riding a new Hero Honda Motor Cycle overtook their vehicle and threatened to shoot them if they did not hand over the cash. Sukhwinder Singh resisted their attempt and raised the alarm. One of the robbers, who was later identified as Palwinder Singh of Ghudani Kalan village, was overpowered by villagers. He, however, later fled. The police chief further said that Mr Jatinder Singh Khaira, DSP, Dakha, had directed Mr Dharam Paul, SHO, Dehlon, to constitute a special investigating teams to nab the gangsters. Four members of the gang, Palwinder Singh of Ghudani Kalan, Harjit Singh, alias Banti, of Butahri village, Gurdeep Singh, alias Deepa, of Khera village and Manpreet Singh, alias Mani of Pohir village were nabbed by a police team. They were reportedly conspiring to strike elsewhere. While Mani was caught for the first time, the other three were already facing cases under various sections of the IPC.
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Driver booked for causing death
Ludhiana, September 11 According to the statement, the accused, who was driving a PRTC bus, hit Iqbal Singh, complainant’s brother-in-law, near the Gill canal bridge on Friday morning, as a result of which Iqbal died on the spot. Cases of assault: The complainant said the accused had intercepted him on the road and beaten him up because of a minor issue on Friday. A case under Sections 323, 341 and 148 of the IPC has been registered. The Koom Kalan police yesterday registered a assault case under Sections 452, 323, 506 and 34 of the IPC on the statement of Nazir Singh of Kadiana Khurd village against Asha Singh and his sons — Gurmel Singh, Hardev Singh and Baldev Singh — all of the same village. In another case, the Sadar police booked Paramvir Singh of Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar and Karnail Singh for forgery, on the complaint of Sudagar Singh of Daad village. According to the complainant, he had purchased a plot in Threekay village from Jarnail Singh and Gurmel Singh. But the accused tried to take possession of the land on the basis of forged documents prepared by them. A case under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the IPC has been registered. Goods stolen: Complainant Gurbachan Singh, a resident of Atam Park, said accused Sanjiv Kumar, Amit Gupta, Amandeep and Anil Kumar, who were employed at his workshop in Industrial Area-B, stole goods, from the workshop and sold these to Jaswinder Vohra and other traders on the Dugri Road. The police arrested the accused on Friday. A case under Sections 381 and 411 of the IPC has been registered.
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