The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Back from the dead Vultures sighted in Kathlour sanctuary Ravi Dhaliwal/Tribune News Service Kathlour (Gurdaspur), January 14 Known as nature’s incinerators, vultures made headlines when they vanished into thin air due to an assortment of reasons. But the good news is that they are back, if the growing number of the species at Kathlour-Koshlyan wildlife sanctuary, 25 km from here, is any indication. Wildlife officers reveal that the population of at least three species of vultures - Egyptian white, white rumpled and brown headed - has shown a significant increase in numbers over the last few months. Romesh Chander, Range Officer (wildlife), Kathlour sanctuary, said, “We can now see two flocks of 150 birds each. The common belief is that vultures do not have a role to play in the environment. On the contrary, they have a really important role to play as they act as mother nature’s own ‘removal gangs.’ It is good to see the birds back and it has also proved that our experiments at bringing them back are successful. Carcasses - decaying ones at that - are a vulture’s usual diet and their scavenging habits are the main connection in checking and containing the spread of infectious diseases among animals and even human beings.” The authorities at the sanctuary experimented by erecting wooden towers which attracted scores of vultures when a carcass or meat was placed upon them. Then they opened three platforms - also known as vulture restaurants - two at Chamrour and Chandoula in Dhar forest range and one at Kathlour. “It is environment and nature which assign the vulture the work of cleansing the earth of rotting carcasses, thus preventing deadly germs from spreading. However, increasing urbanisation, extensive use of pesticides in farming, mounting pollution and wide-scale killing of vultures took their toll. We experimented and with funds from the central government to set up three vulture restaurants, we think we have tasted success,” disclosed Sruti Ram Chopra, another Range officer at the sanctuary. Wildlife experts here fear that if urgent steps are not taken to save the bird, spotting a vulture may become as rare as sighting an Igloo in the Sahara. And that is one of the reasons why more wooden towers are being erected. Specialists believe that there are manifold explanations for the declining population of vultures. “They do not fit in cities. It is the flawed waste-removal practices adopted by the municipalities which led to vultures coming to the cities in the first place. The supposition is that vultures ingest these pesticides from the grass and other green plant life. When the cattle die, vultures swoop on the corpses and imbibe these chemicals along with the flesh of the cattle,” said a wildlife expert. “It was observed that vultures normally float over areas where meat of animals is available in plenty - for instance, in the neighbourhood of slaughter houses or chicken farms. That is one reason why we erected these towers to attract the birds. The vulture restaurants also help to get the birds flying back in droves in the Dhar Kalan range,” disclosed Ramesh Chander. However, no one is sure of how many birds used to be there earlier. What’s definite is that their non-appearance poses grave health hazards for a region where 75 per cent of the population lives in rural areas, with low levels of public hygiene and healthcare.
	Made public for suggestions, JDA’s proposed master plan gets low response Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service Jalandhar, January 14 Barring sporadic reactions from a couple of residents and a few sarpanches from villages around, there has been no response from Jalandhar, Phagwara, Kartarpur and surrounding areas falling under the Jalandhar Development Authority (JDA) to the proposed master plan. Even though more than a month has passed since the plan has been made public, the staff of the JDA revealed that there were hardly any visitors for taking a glance of the plan put up in the office and very few of them have reacted to it. There perhaps is no one who has spared time and tried to carefully study it, they said. Perhaps that is the reason why there have been no good suggestions for betterment of the cityscape. A couple of responses received indicate some vested interests including those by a few sarpanches, who want a commercial complex to get shifted or some industrialists who are adamant on sticking back to the existing premises in a pre-dominantly residential area or, the staff pointed out. The plan specifies that red industries (causing intense air pollution) falling in residential area would have to move in 10 years after the notification of the map. Even the people who are the most concerned about the real estate matters including lead property developers and architects seem to have shown least interest in giving any inputs for the purpose. This despite the fact that the last date of getting response has been extended further to January 22. City’s one of the leading realtors Rajan Chopra said that he had not seen the plan as of now. He had an excuse, “I was away. I intend to see it tomorrow. Only then I will be able to react or discuss anything about it”. Magandeep Riar, a young architect, when asked to give any reactions also had a similar reply. “I could not attend the meeting of the architects association in which the plan was shown and discussed”, he said adding that he too would like to comment on it tomorrow after carefully studying it. Parveen Kumar, Chief Administrator, JDA, said that he wondered why there has been little response from the city. “We have advertised about the same through newspapers. We have put the plan in our office, district administrative complex and a couple of other frequented places for public to view it and react before it gets notified,” he said.
	Sunshine ‘normalises’ rail traffic Ashok Kaura Phagwara, January 14 Though there was no fog in the region and people enjoyed the sunshine today, but most of the mail and express trains were running one to 12 hours late either due to severe cold or poor visibility caused by thick fog in other states. Phagwara Station Master said 3006 DN Amritsar-Howrah Mail was 12 hours behind schedule as the train was to proceed for Howrah at 8 pm yesterday, but it left Amritsar 12 hours late this morning as its corresponding train was much behind schedule yesterday. He said as it was a fog-free day in Punjab so most of the down line trains were running on the scheduled time. Only down line trains like 334 DN Amritsar-Ambala train, 2460 DN Amritsar-Delhi Superfast Express and 5210 DN Amritsar-Saharasa Jansewa Express were running one hour late. Railway officials said as fog enveloped the areas outside Punjab, so 2331 UP Himgiri Express was running 10 hours, 3005 UP Howrah Mail nine hours, 1077 UP Jhelam Express six hours, 6687 UP Manglore-Jammu Tawi Navyug Express five hours, 8101 UP Moorie Express three and a half hours, 8237 UP Chhattisgarh Express train three hours, 2903 UP Golden Mail Express two and a half hours, 1ALH Hisar-Amritsar train two hours behind schedule. They said 12 mail and express trains had been cancelled by the railway authorities to provide extra trains to and from Hardwar due to the Kumb Mela as the Railways has introduced dozens of Kumbh Mela Special trains to facilitate the pilgrims going to Hardwar to have holy dip in the Ganga. The cancelled trains include 4649 UP/4650 DN Amritsar-Darbanga Saryu-Jamuna Express, 4673 UP/4674 DN Saheed Express, 5707 UP/5708 DN Amritsar-Katihar Amarpali Express, 9781 UP/9782 DN Amritsar-Jaipur train, 9771 UP/9772 DN Amritsar-Jaipur train and 3049 UP/3050 DN Howrah Express and these trains would remain cancelled till January 31, said the railway officials. Meanwhile, the railway staff and passengers heaved a sigh of relief due to normalisation of the train traffic to some extent.
	Minor siblings among 4 killed in mishaps Tribune News Service Amritsar, January 14 A minor brother and sister were killed in an accident near Dyal Bhatti village in the Ajnala sub-division here today. They were run over by a speeding car, the driver of which immediately fled from the spot after the accident. The deceased were identified as Prabhjot alias Love (one year) and Anita alias Ritu (3 years) while their mother Anju, wife of Ashok Masih resident of Dyal Bhatti, sustained serious injuries. Head of Police Chowki Gaggomahal ASI Harpal Singh Sohi said the car (no PB02 AH 4277) knocked them down. Consequently, both children died on the spot while Anju was referred to the Guru Nanak Dev Hospital with serious injuries, he added. Anju, who works as a maid, was returning to her house after finishing her work when a speeding car heading to Gaggomahal village from Ajnala brutally knocked them down. The news regarding the death of the minor children sent shock waves and gripped their native village with a pall of gloom. Jalandhar: A motorcyclist was crushed to death while his sister was critically injured when the motorcycle they were riding met with an accident on the Jalandhar Road in Nakodar, this morning. Residents of Hera village, the victims were students of National College Nakodar, and were on their way to the college when the mishap occurred. Kulwant Singh (20) drove the motorcycle with his sister, Manjinder Kaur, riding pillion, when their vehicle collided head-on with a Tempo. Kulwant Singh died on the spot while his sister sustained serious injuries in her legs. She was admitted to a private hospital where her condition is said to be serious. The body was handed over to the family after post-mortem examination at the Nakodar civil hospital this evening. The police has nabbed the tempo driver, Harjinder Singh, a resident of Littran village, and a case of rash and negligent driving has been registered against him. The police has also impounded the vehicles involved in the accident. Gurdaspur: A motorcyclist was crushed to death when his bike rammed into a truck at Kanwan village, 24 km from here, on the busy Gurdaspur-Pathankot national highway late yesterday evening. The deceased, who has been identified as Amandeep Singh, was driving his bike when he suddenly lost control and smashed the bike into the truck. The truck driver, identified as Kuldeep Singh of Ajnala, too lost control over the vehicle following which the vehicle plunged into trees on the side of the road. Eye witnesses said Amandeep Singh died at the spot. The body of Amandeep was taken by his kin to the Pathankot civil hospital for post-mortem examination. Nawanshahr: Two persons were seriously injured when a Tata 407 truck overturned at the Bairsian-Hiala link road while overtaking a tractor-trailer on Thursday. Five persons were travelling in the vehicle. Harjinder Singh and Dev Ram, residents of Pallian Khurd village, received serious injuries and have been referred to the PGI, Chandigarh.
	Man murders wife, arrested Our Correspondent Hoshiarpur, January 14 Veena Devi, alias Sonu (29), daughter of Khushi Ram Saini of local Pur Hiran was allegedly murdered by her husband Daya Ram of Nangal Thathal PS Garhdiwala near Roriar village today. According to the police sources, Daya Ram has been arrested under section 302 of the IPC. Soures said the deceased had two daughters and a son. Her husband Daya Ramwas suspicious about her character due to which he murdered her with a sword today.
	Crime Zone Kidnapped agent rescued, 2 nabbed Our Correspondent Hoshiarpur, January 14 The district police has not only succeeded in rescuing a kidnapped travel agent Karnail Singh of Seena village after eight hours of abduction, but has also arrested two of his abductors. SSP Parmod Ban told this correspondent that out of the six abductors who abducted Karnail Singh from his house at Seena village yesterday, two of them - identified as Rachhpal Singh, of Savdhi (Tarn Taran) and Gurdip Singh, alias Surjit, of Khakh village (Tarn Taran) - were arrested today. Efforts are being made to arrest the other kidnappers. The abductors who had some dispute with Karnail Singh over money, went to his residence yesterday and bundled him up in a Mahindra Pickup jeep (No PB 29G 9030). On the complaint of Karnail Singh’s mother Bachan Kaur, the Sadar police registered a case under section 364 of the IPC.