Amritsar, January 21
The enforcement wing of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) today raided various domestic and industrial units in the Rayya, Beas, Nagoke and Baba Bakala areas falling under the Amritsar division here, and detected cases of major power theft and overloading.

The board imposed a penalty of Rs 50 lakh on the units involved in stealing electricity.

According to details, a fine of Rs 23 lakh was imposed on a hotel situated on the main Rayya road. H.S. Randhawa, Chief Engineer (Enforcement), who was leading the raiding party, said the hotel owner was found involved in overdrawing the electricity almost double his permissible limits, while there were also faulty electricity meters fitted on the hotel premises. He disclosed the hotel was drawing 130 KW electricity against the permissible limit of 78 KW.

Meanwhile, the team recovered Rs 46 lakh as fine for the theft, while Rs 4 lakh was recovered for overloading and other irregularities.

It is pertinent to mention here that during a meeting presided over by H.S. Brar, Chairman, PSEB, the enforcement wing had decided to conduct raids for checking power losses due to theft and overloading, especially in Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar.

Jalandhar, January 21
A SAD leader has come to the help of thousands of residents from pollution caused by industrial units running in different localities in Jalandhar.

Interestingly, most of these residential areas have either been declared as industrial or industrial mix in the proposed master plan prepared by the Jalandhar Development Authority (JDA).

SAD councillor from Ward 3 Paramjit Singh Reru lodged a complaint with the JDA today against declaring several localities as industrial or industrial mix areas.

Talking to The Tribune, Reru said several localities were announced as industrial or industrial mix areas despite the fact that several polluting units had come up in these non-designated areas illegally.

Instead of providing relief to residents, the JDA has now declared these localities as industrial or industrial mix areas, he added.

Interestingly, Baba Deep Singh Nagar on Pathankot Road, Raowali, Nangal Salempur, Nangal Jamalpur and adjoining villages located between Dhogri Road and Pathankot Road have been declared as industrial areas, he said, adding that the area bounded by Doaba Chowk to Sodal Chowk to Byepass Chowk to Pathankot Chowk and to Doaba Chowk Road has been earmarked as industrial mix zone.

The JDA has named 15 residential areas of Basti Sheikh, Basti Nau, Basti Gujan, Basti Danishmanda, Model House, Preet Nagar, Aman Nagar, Globe Colony, Amar Garden, Gobind Nagar, New Gobind Nagar, Kailash Nagar, Shankar Garden, Shashi Nagar and Sodal Nagar as industrial mixed zone where houses and industries can co-exist.

Without naming anyone, Reru alleged that some politicians had been provided funds for pursuing the illegal cause of the industries set up in these localities.

The SAD leader said if the industries set up in residential areas were not shifted, thousands of residents of nearby areas would also suffer owing to air, water, noise and soil pollution.

Reru said the JDA should earmark land outside the city for the polluting industries. Land should be selected for relocation of industries where no residence is located within a radius of at least 1 km and the provision of green belt around the shifted units should also be made.

Raowal Sarpanch Resham Lal, Nurpur Sarpanch Surjit Singh and some other representatives of the area accompanied Reru while filing their objections to the proposed draft of the master plan.

Last day for filing objections today

January 22 is the last day for filing objections or giving suggestions for the proposed master plan. The proposed plan was notified in December and any suggestion or objection from any individual or organisation may be submitted verbally or in writing with the JDA, located in the PUDA office near the DAC

Nawanshahr, January 21
Finally, the auction of shops at the proposed site of Sabzi Mandi near New Grain Market on Karyam Road was held peacefully despite the boycott by the local Sabzi Mandi Arhtiyas Association, here today.

As many as 14 shops in Sabzi Mandi and two in New Grain Market were auctioned.

The issue of shifting Sabzi Mandi from the present site to the proposed site has been lingering on since 1992-93.

Since then, the Sabzi Mandi Arhtiyas Association has been succeeding in getting the auction postponed.

As the association members were reluctant to shift their establishments by raising objections regarding the location of the proposed site, the local MLA had proposed that he would take up the issue with the Chief Minister to get the mandi shifted to a site on Banga Road here. But nothing concrete was done.

Keshav Nayaran Bhucher, alias Tony, president of the Sabzi Mandi Arhtiyas Association, at a press meeting here yesterday, had demanded postponement of the auction till the matter was decided by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which has issued a notice of motion for April 6.

Tony said the arhtiyas had stated in their petition that the proposed site was situated in the congested and polluted area so Sabzi Mandi should be set up at a site on the main highway.

On the other hand, MLA Jatinder Singh Kariha said the association had ignored his proposal of amicable solution to the problem.

Dildar Singh, Chairman of the Market Committee, said the auction was held as scheduled and the proceedings would be finalised as per the directions of the High Court. — OC

Tarn Taran, January 21
Rajwant Kaur (30) of Lauka village, 15 km from here, has been booked under sections 302 and 201 of the IPC for killing her one-month-old daughter by strangulating her. SSP Sukhdev Singh said that Rajwant Kaur, after committing the crime, lodged a report with the police about her daughter going missing from her house. The SSP added that the police party recovered the girl from an abandoned place in the village. He said the dead baby was gagged and strangulated.

The post-mortem report found that the girl was killed by strangulating. The circumstantial evidence disclosed that the mother killed the girl and threw the body at an abandoned place in the village. The relation of the woman with her husband too had not been good, disclosed neighbours.