The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Ram Bagh: Finally, ‘club Raj’ to end Varinder Walia/TNS Amritsar, November 27 All the three clubs of the British era would be evicted from the historic Ram Bagh - Summer Palace of Maharaja Ranjit Singh - within six weeks as per the order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. However, members claimed that the clubs were part of the heritage of Amritsar and have been in existence since 1908. They catered to more than 4,000 members and had 500 employees, they said. Earlier, in a landmark order on May 25 last year, then subdivisional magistrate-cum-collector Vimal Setia had ordered eviction of all three clubs - Services Club, Amritsar Club and Lumbsdon Club - from Ram Bagh by June 20, 2007. These clubs were opened by the British after the annexation of Punjab. Their lease expired about 15 years back. The order termed the clubs as “unauthorised occupation of the public premises”. The eviction orders clearly mentioned that having failed to vacate the clubs by June, 2007, the municipal corporation would be at liberty to get the area vacated under section 5(2) of the Land Eviction and Land Recovery Act, 1973. However, on the intervention of the local politicians, the administration failed to meet the deadline of eviction. Services Club president S.S. Chhina claimed that a way out would be found in consultation with the municipal corporation so that the clubs continued to work in Ram Bagh. However, Ram Singh, owner of Teg Resort, said he had been receiving calls from the members of these clubs for enrolment. In a unanimous resolution, the municipal corporation vide resolution July 1, 1994, had decided that excess land in possession of the clubs should be vacated immediately. Ram Bagh has a cluster of traditional buildings and canopies but due to the fast pace of modernisation, the bagh is losing its identity. The run-up to the eviction order was the widespread feeling that the heritage properties of the city were being neglected. Earlier, a letter by the director, cultural and historical and museum department, to the deputy commissioner on July 8, 1999, read: “You are well aware that the whole of Ram Bagh has been declared as a protected monument as per the Government of Punjab’s notification number 1/14/97- TS /2051, dated October 10, 1997. Now, this garden is totally developed as per rules of historical monuments by the department ‘85.” Maharaja Ranjit Singh took keen interest in the development and beautification of Amritsar during his rule. He followed the Mughal pattern in laying out gardens and constructing beautiful buildings, including forts, most of which are now on the brink of ruin. The maharaja got Ram Bagh, Amritsar, constructed on the pattern of Shalimar Bagh, Lahore. Ram Bagh was renamed as Company Bagh by the British. Amritsar looked like a fortified city in the days of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The antiquity of Ram Bagh can be gauged from the fact that the conservationists have found an amazing 200-year-old earthen-sanitation-system during the intensive digging operation.
	New directives issued MC gets tough on violations Deepkamal Kaur/TNS Jalandhar, November 27 The municipal corporation (MC), it seems, has tightened belt to ensure that its orders are strictly adhered to. On Thursday, the corporation authorities introduced fresh directives and also fixed rigid deadlines for their effective implementation. A strict warning has been issued to all those dumping concrete outside their under-construction houses or commercial complexes. “All the construction material should be kept within the boundary walls,” said the official order, adding that from the first week of December, challans, to the tune of Rs 5,000 per day, would be issued against the violators. The MC has also asked owners of the newly-constructed buildings to get their structures assessed from approved architects and engineers and deposit the composition fee before December 15. “We have already issued a public notice regarding the same. All those found occupying the new building, without having paid the requisite fee, will be levied a heavy fine,” said Rahul Gupta, joint commissioner of MC. Municipal town planner Murari Dutt Sharma said from December 15 onwards, a refundable security of Rs two lakh will be charged for installation of rainwater harvesting system from owners of new buildings with more 500 sq yd area. He said water supply and sewer-sharing charges, to the tune of Rs 5.05 lakh per acre, would also be taken from the building owners from December 15. In a yet another significant decision, the MC has decided to hand over the tow away zones, including the three notified ones and one yet-to-be-declared zone near the Ladowali Road, to a private firm on contract basis. “We are in the process on inviting tenders. The company that will offer the highest bid will be given the contract for a period of three years”, said the joint commissioner. In another major move, the MC officials have decided to rope in the civil engineering faculty of Dr BR Ambedkar National Institute of Technology for their assessment on quality of material used in road construction in Sodal area and few other stretches. “We will follow this arrangement till contractors for the third party assessment are finalised, “ said Gupta.
	Govt apathy adds to widow’s woes Bipin Bhardwaj/TNS Jalandhar, November 27 Even after one year of her husband’s death, Surinder Kaur, a Hoshiarpur resident, has been running from pillar to post for getting the due benefits. Courtesy the state government, the widow is forced to live at the mercy of relatives and neighbours to bring up her five-member family. Hailing from Mehtapur-Mansurpur village in Mukerian, Surinder, along with her four teenaged daughters, has been living in a rented accommodation in the village. The family has been virtually dragged under debt. Narrating her tale of woes, Surinder recalled that her husband Som Raj, a conductor with the Punjab transport department in Jalandhar, died in December 2007 due to illness. His sickness made the family bankrupt. Since Som Raj had not nominated any legal heir for his property and other monitory benefits after death, the transport department complicated her problems instead of solving them and did not make any payment of dues to the family, the widow claimed. Talking to The Tribune, Surinder recalled that the family received only the GPF and ex gratia payment and that too after the issue was highlighted in the media.She lamented that the transport department had not reimbursed even a single penny against the medical bills worth Rs 3 lakh. Moreover, files of gratuity, pension and other dues are still gathering dust in the offices concerned, she added. Holding her tears back, the 50-year-old widow revealed that she had been corresponding with every officer concerned for getting the relief but all in vain. Repeated representations to the Chief Minister, the transport minister, the transport secretary and the deputy commissioners of Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur have failed to draw their attention towards her sufferings, claimed Surinder. Because of non-payment of her dues, she has not been able to fulfil her dream to impart better education to her daughters.
	Sainik Bhavan at Padhiana awaits funds Kusum Arora Tribune News Service Padhiana (Jalandhar), November 27 Ten years after it was started, Sainik Bhavan at Padhiana village, near here, is yet to see the dawn of the day. Reason: Lack of release of timely funds by the Punjab government. A dream project to provide facilities to ex-servicemen of the village and its surrounding areas, the project has virtually come to a halt. Started in 1999, the bhavan was constructed in two kanals donated by the village panchayat. With a majority of the finishing work lying incomplete, the bhavan has been wearing a deserted look. The funds for the construction of the bhavan were released by the Punjab Government Nirman Funds. Though the initial funds were released well in time, the lackadaisical attitude of the officials concerned turned things sour. The initial estimate of the project was Rs 10.50 lakh, of which Rs 3 lakh was released as the first instalment and the work was handed over to the executive engineer, panchayati raj. Even the second and third instalments were released within a short span of time but the work could not be executed. Talking to The Tribune, the present caretaker of the bhavan Capt Baldev Singh (retd) said, “It is sad to see that the construction of the bhavan came to a halt when the majority work was completed. Though a review of the remaining work was done in 2004 and estimate to the tune of Rs 3.85 lakh was prepared, the amount has not been released till date. We held several meetings in this regard at the district sainik welfare office (DSWO) but to no avail. “As we have ample space in the bhavan, we wish to start a CSD canteen, an ECHS polyclinic and even plan to hold recruitment rallies. This endeavour would indeed fulfil the requirements of many ex-servicemen of the surrounding villages of Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala,” said village sarpanch Bhajan Singh, who is a retired IAF employee. Capt Baldev Singh said this was the penultimate phase of the project but delay in the release of funds was making things worse. “We have also decided to write an application to Western Command Headquarters and HQ 11 Corps to commission a CSD canteen extension counter here as has been done in Shahkot Sainik Bhavan.” At present the bhavan has a room for library, an administrative office, a big hall and another room constructed recently. “With the passage of time, the condition of the bhavan has deteriorated. There is no electricity and drinking water facility as well.” However, when contacted, deputy commissioner-cum-president of the DSWO Ajeet Singh Pannu said, “Earlier the funds were released under the small savings scheme, but presently we are short of funds.”
	Frame new law to rein in fake travel agents: LBP Tribune News Service Jalandhar, November 27 The state government should come up with the Punjab Control of Organised Crime Act (PCOCA) on the pattern of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) to bridle unauthorised travel agents. Lok Bhalai Party (LBP) president Balwant Singh Ramoowalia made this demand while talking to mediapersons here on Thursday. Ramoowalia said cheating committed by unauthorised travel agents in Punjab had become an organised crime as travel agents were committing fraud of at least Rs 20 crore per day. All this was done in connivance with several politicians, bureaucrats and policemen, he added. The LBP president said this was the need of the hour that the state government should introduce PCOCA to take stern action against the unauthorised travel agents. Ramoowalia also demanded that the draft of the Prevention of Human Trafficking Act should also be passed to make it a law. The draft was prepared a few years back during previous Congress government. The LBP president further alleged that DTOs in Punjab were harassing visiting NRIs on one or the other pretext. The NRIs had made these complaints to him and it should be stopped, he added. Ramoowalia said the LBP rescued and ensured safe return by providing them emergency slips after taking up the matter with the embassy concerned of six Punjab youths who were stuck in Indonesia whereas their travel agents had taken nearly Rs 60 lakh from them for sending them to France and some European countries. He said the state government should ensure that these duped youths be returned their money.
	Low potato price frustrates farmers Jalandhar, November 27 Potato growers, who were happy last year because of a bumper production and even preferred to store their produce in cold stores to sell later, are a disappointed lot now because the prices have declined and farmers are finding it difficult to sell their crop. “Last year it was a bumper crop in the country and instead of selling, the farmers kept their produce in cold storage, but now they are not able to get the price offered last year,” Jalandhar Potato Growers Association secretary Jaswinder Singh Sangha said. At present potato is being sold at Rs 125 per 50 kg and if the situation continues, within a month the price may fall to even Rs 50 per 50 kg, Sangha said, adding that already the farmers were facing difficulties in selling the old crop, the new crop has also arrived in the market. “If the situation does not improve, it will lead to the situation of 2000 when potato growers had to throw their crop on the road to lodge their protest,” Sangha added. Confederation of Potato Seed Farmers secretary-general Jung Bahadur Sangha said after selling the seed crop, not even half of the cost could have been obtained by the farmers. “It is not only in Punjab that the situation is grim, major potato-growing states like West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh are also facing the same problems,” he said, adding that the situation might improve next year as farmers had decided to reduce the area for potato growing. Sangha said the Punjab government wanted diversification of the crop but in the absence of any government support, the farmers were finding wheat and paddy more lucrative than the cash crops due to a steep increase in the minimum support price (MSP) of the grain. “The government should come forward to support the perishable crops also in any manner so that attempts of diversification do not fall flat,” he said. Sources said the farmers and wholesalers, who purchased potato at Rs 10 last year and stored the same, were now compelled to sell the same at a minimal price of Rs 2 to 3 only. The sources claimed farmers and suppliers did not bring the crop to the market as the prices of potato had increased to Rs 10 per kg due to the rumour that the crop would be destroyed due to the cold weather. — PTI