The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	4 swine flu suspects dead Dharmendra Joshi Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 2 The ghost of swine flu continues to haunt the region here as four persons of different districts of Doaba, suspected to be suffering from this disease, have died during the last 24 hours. The four suspected swine flu patients are Paramjeet Singh (48) of Sultanpur Lodhi in Kapurthala district, Vidya Devi (50) of Todarpur in Hoshiarpur, Paramjeet Kaur (24) of Chack Maidas in Nawanshahr and Renu Devi of Jalandhar. These patients were admitted to the local Civil Hospital on different dates. Talking to The Tribune, District Health Officer (DHO) said the samples of these patients had been sent for confirming whether they were suffering from swine flu or not. The reports of their samples are still awaited, he said, adding only report results would confirm whether they were swine flu patients. The situation has already taken an ugly turn due to the spread of swine flu in this region. This may easily be understood from the fact that as many as 13 confirmed patients of Jalandhar have already died due to swine flu during the past some weeks. Besides, 40 persons of Jalandhar have been found suffering from this endemic so far. According to medical experts, the cold weather is also considered as one of the reasons for the spread of this disease. Further, doctors could not differentiate between routine cough and cold during the winter and swine flu at the initial stage. As a result, the suspected swine flu patients could not be quarantined at an early stage, which has caused the speedy spread of this endemic.
	Decades after, sewerage & water supply still a dream Every project ends up being abandoned by the consecutive governments Parmod Bharti Nawanshahr, January 2 Basic civic amenities like sewerage and water supply have been proving elusive for residents in the city, especially those residing in colonies developed on Chandigarh Road, Rahon Road, Garhshankar Road etc. over the past about three decades. During the first decade of the 21st century, though the town had got three mega projects for cent percent sewerage and water supply facilities, every time with the change of government in the state, the projects got abandoned midway, consequently depriving residents of basic amenities. Now, as per sources from the Sewerage and Water Supply Department, a new project under the centre-sponsored Satlej Action Plan has been prepared, to cover the town under cent percent sewerage facility and the estimates have been sent for approval to the government. But the residents here have become fed up with the ever-changing mega projects. They do not want mega projects only, but their complete implementation. It is worth a mention here that during the Nawanshahr assembly bypoll held in February 2000, the residents of colonies developed along the Chandigarh Road and Rahon Road, had raised the demand of being provided with basic amenities. Reciprocating their demand, Parkash Singh Badal (also CM then) had sanctioned a HUDCO-Assisted mega project amounting to Rs 7.75 crore for providing cent percent sewerage and water supply facility in the town. Under the project, though the sewerage and water supply facilities were extended in town, residents of the colonies developed along Chandigarh Road and Rahon Road, who had raised the issue with the CM, remained deprived of the facilities due to lack of coordination between the Water Supply and Sewerage Board and the PWD (B&R) Department over the issue of road cutting charges of Chandigarh Road and Rahon Road for connecting the sewer pipes with the main sewer. In 2002, with the change of government, the project was abandoned and the then Congress government came out with a new mega project for the extension of the sewerage and water supply facilities in town. In 2006, the then Local Bodies Minister, Chaudhary Jagjit Singh, inaugurated the project under which a sum of Rs 366.84 lakh and Rs 150.53 lakh was to be spent for providing sewerage and water supply facilities, respectively, to every nook and corner of the town. At that time, the design of the earlier project was modified. Under the new plan, it was decided that the colonies developed along Chandigarh Road and Rahon Road would be connected via Sloh Road. Then Sloh Road would be connected with main sewer by joining it with Chandigarh Chowk. The sewer pipelines were laid from Sloh Road. But the residents of most of the colonies developed along Chandigarh and Rahon Road, again, remained deprived of the civic amenities as again with the change of the government in 2007, the project was abandoned midway. Though about three years of SAD-BJP regime have passed but the work of joining of Sloh Road and Chandigarh Chowk with a view to connecting it with the main sewer, is yet to be started, though the political leaders and authorities at the helm of the affairs continued talking of preparing a new plan, the plan and estimate remained on paper only. Sources in the Water Supply and Sewerage Board have revealed that an estimate, amounting to Rs 1.49 crore, has been prepared for joining the Sloh Road with Chandigarh Chowk. Besides, a project amounting to Rs 19 crore, under the Satlej Action Plan, has also been prepared for the extension of the sewerage and water supply facilities within the municipal limits of the town and the sanction as well as the allocation of funds is awaited. Under the plan, 70 per cent of the amount would be spent by the central government and 30 per cent would be borne by the state government.
	Gang of intoxicant smugglers busted, 4 held Our Correspondent Phillaur, January 2 On first day of New Year 2010, the Phillaur police succeeded in bursting an inter-state gang of intoxicant smugglers and nabbing four inter-state intoxicant smugglers. It seized a huge quantity of poppy husk and its flowers at nearby Teng village on Friday. Phillaur DSP Kamaljit Singh Dhillon, while addressing a press conference here today, said on a tip-off, the police set up a naka and stopped a Santro car (JK-03B-4448), which was driven by Paramjit Singh, alias Pappi, of nearby Samrarri village, and a truck (PB-29B-9736) carrying a huge consignment of intoxicants. Dhillon said three intoxicant smugglers identified as Chhinder Paul of nearby Mehatpur who was driving the truck, Abdul Quam Gani of Pulbama and Mushtak Abdul Buti of Anantnag in Jammu and Kashmir, were arrested. The police seized 800 kg of poppy husk, 500 kg of flowers of puppy and 150 boxes of apples. Both the vehicles have been impounded, said the DSP. He said the gang members usually purchased these intoxicants from Kashmir and sold in different parts of Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Nawanshahr and Hoshiarpur districts. Dhillon disclosed that the impounded truck had been released on “supurdari” in a criminal case already registered in Jammu and Kashmir. He said Chhinder Paul and Paramjit were already facing five criminal cases.
	Poor visibility: 4 hurt in car-truck collision Our Correspondent Hoshiarpur, January 2 Residents of the district have been experiencing bitterly cold weather since last night. Residents found the city engulfed in darkness due to failure of power supply in the morning, a thick blanket of fog didn’t seem to be helping things either. Power failure from 3 am to 5 pm badly paralysed normal life. Water supply in the city was also badly affected due to power failure. People had a tough time reaching destinations due to poor visibility. Many of the shopkeepers were braving the chill, sitting around bonfires in front of their shops. Almost all the bazars wore a deserted look. Executive Engineer of the PSEB, Avtar Singh said due to some serious snags in the northern grid, power remained shut from 3 am to 1 pm. Later, the higher authorities imposed a power cut from 2 pm to 5 pm. A road accident between a Maruti car and a bus was also reported on the Hoshiarpur-Phagwara road, on account of dense fog in the forenoon. According to police sources, four persons, including a lady, identified as Binder Kaur, Banwari Lal, driver of Maruti car Gurdeep Singh and Surjit Kumar, all of Mona Khurd village were wounded when their Maruti car (No. PB 08H 3646) collided with the bus (No PB 11CF 2971) of a private transport company, when the car driver was trying to overtake a truck near Davida Ahrana, 18 km from here, on the Hoshiarpur-Phagwara road, due to poor visibility this morning. All the injured were admitted to the local Civil Hospital.
	Field hospital organises healthcare camp Our Correspondent Pathankot, January 2 A medical check-up camp was organised by 2016 Field Hospital Mamun Cantonment, 12 km from here today. The camp was inaugurated by Reema Jagga, president of AWWA Black Arrow Brigade. As many as 500 patients were examined at the camp. During the camp, apart from medical check-up focused on preventable and lifestyle diseases, free Hepatitis B immunisation, Pap smear examination for screening cervical cancer, reproductive health clinic, oral and dental health clinic, issuing of family health cards to families and health exhibition was also incorporated for the benefit of families of serving personnel. Speaking on the occasion Col SS Ghosh, Commanding Officer Field Hospital said the health of mother and child is one of the most important aspects of the overall health care system. He said women are facing unequal awareness to information, health care and basic health practices and this situation increases the health risk among women in general and children in particular. He said both mothers and children need healthy, safe and protective environment for development and well-being. Col Ghosh also introduced special children to Reema Jagga, with whom she interacted.
	Dist excels in ‘Parho Punjab’ mid-test Our Correspondent Nawanshahr, January 2 The district has achieved a distinction in the “Parho Punjab” programme. In the mid-test conducted to evaluate the progress of the programme in the state, the district has bagged the first position in the state by securing 71.24 per cent marks. Giving details, District Education Officer Darshan Kaur and District Coordinator of the Parho Punjab programme Kulwaran Singh Poonia said in the mid-test conducted from November 16 to 30, the district achieved 74.15 per cent marks in languages, 68.33 per cent in mathematics and overall 71.24 per cent, which was the highest in the state. Out of 217 education blocks in the state, Nawanshahr-2 , Balachaur-2, Mukandpur, Nawanshahr-1, Saroya, Aur, Balachaur-1 and Banga have secured the first, third, seventh, eighteth, 10th, 13th, 23rd and 31st positions, respectively, in languages in the state. Similarly, in mathematics Nawanshahr-2, Aur, Mukandpur, Balachaur-2, Nawanshahr-1, Saroya, Balachaur-1 and Banga have secured the first, 10th, 14th, 20th, 26th, 30th and 82nd positions, respectively.