Kapurthala, October 5
Even the confirmation of one case of dengue out of the suspected five cases in Kapurthala district, has failed to move the Municipal Council to action. Leave alone making the general public aware about cleanliness, water was found accumulated in several coolers installed in the Municipal Council premises during a visit to its office on Tuesday.

Water was found in the coolers installed in the rooms of the Accountant and Fire Brigade Officer. Apparently, the coolers had not been cleaned for several weeks and the water had been left as such in the coolers, as they were not used nowadays due to the change in the weather.

When contacted, MC Executive Officer, Mr Raj Kumar Mittal, said the MC was educating the public to make their surroundings clean in order to avoid any diseases. If some coolers installed in some of the offices of MC were not cleaned, the officers concerned would be asked to do so.

Meanwhile a former MC Chief and councillor of ward No 19, Mr Mohinder Agarwal, expressed fear that a dreaded disease might outbreak in the city anytime due to the dirt and overflowing of sewage in different parts of the city.

Mr Agarwal alleged that heaps of garbage could be seen in several localities of the city, including Sunder Nagar, Niranjan Singh Colony, Brahm Kund area, Guru Nanak Nagar, Sunder Avenue, Mansoorwal area, Baba Jeet Singh Nagar and Industrial area.

The former MC said no fogging had been done in any part of the city as the fogging machine was out of order since 2003. On the contrary, MC EO, Mr Raj Kumar Mittal, claimed that the machine was operational and fogging was being done in several parts of the city in the morning and evening for about a week.

However, he failed to name a single area where fogging had been done.

Mr Mittal said the signatures of the concerned councillors were also taken at the time of fogging in a particular area. To a query, he said that the machine was out of order about a year ago but he claimed that it was operational now.

However, the former MC chief Mr Mohinder Agarwal termed the claims of the MC EO as baseless.

Meanwhile, when contacted the Kapurthala Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr Arjun Singh Gill, said five-suspected dengue cases had been reported in different parts of Kapurthala district.

Three such patients were sent to PGI Chandigarh, where two of them were admitted to DMC Ludhiana.

The CMO said one of the suspected patients admitted at the DMC, Deepak Sharma from a locality near GB Hospital Phagwara, was confirmed as suffering from dengue.

Dr Gill said he had already issued instructions to all the EOs of different MCs of Kapurthala district and the DDPO to initiate a fogging and cleanliness drive in their areas.

The CMO said the SMOs had also been directed to get ready to meet any eventuality.

The CMO said the people should also wear full sleeved clothes to avoid mosquito bites.

Water should also be cleaned from water head tankers, tyres and coolers to avoid dengue. 

Jalandhar, October 5
Young heartthrob and Bollywood sensation Neha Dhupia inaugurated new Flying Cats centre and Polished Cats, a complete grooming school here today.

To mark the launch of the Polished Cats, Neha also conducted a grooming workshop with students of Flying Cats. Neha is already on the celebrity panel of the Flying Cats Airhostess Training School.

Neha shared her experience with students and youngsters of the city.

She said she took every day as a new lesson in life and advised the students not to limit themselves to traditional careers as the world was full of varied, exciting and well paying careers.

“What is required is to realise and avail the opportunity standing at one’s doorstep by being completely groomed and smart to take on the world,” said a smiling Neha Dhupia.

Jalandhar, October 5
As many as 537 cadets from the region are taking part in a Combined Training Camp being organised for the NCC air wing and naval units at DAV College here.

The camp that began on September 28 will continue on till October 9 with a mega show to be held on October to mark the Air Force Day. The campers have come from various schools and colleges in Jalandhar, Garhdiwal, Nawanshahr, Kapurthala, Adampur and Hoshiarpur.

Giving details, Camp Commander, Wg Cdr H. Singh, said there were 74 girls taking part in the camp as the cadets included students from the girls’ colleges as well. The cadets have come from Hans Raj Mahila Maha Vidyalaya, DAV College and Doaba College, he added.

The cadets have a stringent routine waking up at 5:30 am and taking part in various exercises including para-sailing, aero-modeling, ship modelling, shooting, drill and PT.

The cadets are also been given motivational lectures on joining the defence forces, traffic rules and blood donation. Some movies based on social service and the role of the defence forces are also been shown to them. 

Jalandhar, October 5
Enactment of scenes from the Ramayana marked the ‘Shobha Yatras’, in different parts of the city on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Lord Balmiki today.

Impressive processions of were organised by the Bhagwan Balmiki Utsav Committee, Bhagwan Balmiki Dharm Satguru Kabir Parbandhak Committee and the Bhartiya Balmiki Trikaal Sangh.