Amritsar, February 26
Though Holi marks the advent of spring and ideally the colours used in Holi reflect the various hues of spring, the modern times have transformed this festival too shifting it to a more ruthless, business-oriented mode.

The Tribune team took a random round of the holy city to find what is in store for Holi enthusiasts this time and found some astounding facts about chemical-infested harmful colours, pichkaris (water guns) and colour sprays, being sold in the markets.

Mind it. The amazing powdered colours, in vibrant shades, which we get from the market, are actually poisoned urea. China rules as far as the supply of cheap pichkaris is concerned. No points for guessing the quality and safety aspect of these pichkaris.

The packaged colours specifically warn “for industrial use only” and the China-made pichkaris carry the tag “harmful choking warning: not to be used by children below three years”.

The Amritsar administration hasn’t even bothered to intervene and stop the practice, which is telling on the people’s health.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the true spirit of the festival with the practice of using gulal, made of flowers from trees like Indian coral tree (parijat) and the flame of forest (kesu), both having bright red flowers, seems to be history.

“Most of these trees also had medicinal values and Holi colours prepared from them were actually beneficial to the skin,” said Dr Ashok Goel.

As firms vied with one another for higher profits, the competition gave way to industrial dyes manufactured through chemical processes and other poisonous substances.

According to a research, the pastes contain very toxic chemicals resulting in severe health effects.

Colours generally come in two forms - dry and wet. The dry colours contain two components - a colourant that is toxic and a base which could be either asbestos, silica, mud and now urea, all these cause serious health problems. Heavy metals contained in the colourants can cause asthma, skin diseases and can adversely affect the eyes, say doctors.

The wet colours mostly use gentian violet as a colour concentrate, which can cause skin discolouration and dermatitis.

Both the types are loosely sold on the roads, both by small and wholesale traders.

Though many do not know the source yet, they are aware of the harmful effects of some of these colours.

The pichkaris too have been equipped with nylon “So, what can we do, when people prefer to buy cheap ones. A good quality gulal is four times costlier than the chemical-infested one. We have the branded, good quality gulals too, but people generally get discouraged after knowing its price. The chemical-infested shopping can be made spending less than Rs 50. We too get a good margin in it, so both ways its happy going,” said a shopkeeper.

Unlike the traditional pichkaris, which have a brass cylinder and leather washers, the present ones are made of plastic or tine and use nylon washers. The fluid, if directed towards the face, can damage ear, skin, eyes and nose.

Amritsar, February 26
Due to faulty water supply system, the people of New Nehru Colony and its adjoining areas on Majitha Road are compelled to depend on contaminated water, infested with insects and earthworms posing a serious health hazard.

Sonia, a resident of the area, said they had been getting the contaminated water for the last five days. She said the residents had informed the Municipal Corporation in this regard, but nothing had been done so far to solve the problem.

Life has become miserable for the people who are forced to bring water from far-away residences, having submersible pumps.

“The authorities have failed to make any arrangements of potable water even after five days of the complaint lodged with the Municipal Corporation,” lamented Kamlesh Rani, another resident.

“This is a serious health hazard,” said Ravinder Kumar, adding that the people tried to filter the water with the help of dupattas but the problem could not be solved as the small-sized worms pierced through the cloth. The reason could be leakage in underground pipes which supplied water to residences, but till now it seemed to be a mystery for the corporation employees who visited in the area this evening and returned empty handed, he said.

MC Commissioner D.P.S. Kharbanda said he was not aware of the problem, adding that he would immediately direct the officials concerned to look into this.

SDO Tilak Raj claimed the worms and insects were not coming through the corporation water supply and blamed that the people themselves were responsible for the problem who let points loose in taps, especially near the ground.

For the time being, the problem had been rectified, but if it persisted he would again sent his employees to rectify it, he said.

Amritsar, February 26
Cocking a snook at motor vehicle rules and regulations, scores of bus and truck operators have been ferrying passengers, which include women and children of tender age, contrary to the vehicles’ specification and capacity.

It seems as if the authorities, both local as well as highways, have been waiting for some serious tragedy to happen before waking up from its deep slumber to put a check on this malpractice, which is putting their lives in danger.

One can witness one such kind of non-adherence to rules just 200 m ahead of Pingalwara centre on the GT Road where truck operators have placed wooden blocks on their trailers to enable them pick up double the capacity of the passengers on a single trip. Similarly, the bus operators have been carrying passengers on the roof of the buses.

These “dangers on wheels” have been plying from here to Anandpur Sahib and Dera Sahib to celebrate Holla Mohalla.

This correspondent, when approached one of the operators for a ride. Pat came the reply, “Where would you prefer to sit? Inside the bus or on the roof top?

The curiosity ended when the operator said for ride inside the bus, Rs 105 had to be shelled out, but for roof travel, half the amount would do.

When asked about the police intervention in the midway, the driver of the bus retorted, “Eh saadi jimmewari hai, bau ji! Police waale saare jaande ne. Uhna naal pehle he sabkuchh teh hai. (It is our responsibility to reach you at destination. All policemen are already aware of it and everything has been settled before hand).

Nevertheless, the motor vehicle rules strictly prohibits modification of vehicle at the time of registration or carrying load more than the prescribed capacity of the vehicle.

Amritsar, February 26
In a significant development, the high court has vacated the stay orders, which has restrained the district administration from selling the sugar hoarded by the traders.

The Food and Civil Supply Department seized about 10,000 quintals of hoarded sugar worth crores of rupees from the godowns situated on the Tarn Taran road in September last year. The sugar was lying for black marketing in view of the festive seasons at that time.

Following the orders of taking stringent measures from the government in order to stop the black marketing leading to shortage of sugar in the country, the department had conducted raids at many godowns in the city. The major part of stocked sugar was belonged to one Rajiv Kumar who had hired the godown against whom a case under relevant sections of essential commodity act was registered.

The department had auctioned the hoarded sugar on October 10 at Rs 25-28 per kg to other traders after following the proper procedure. However, the owners of the sugar filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court taking the plea that the district administration could not sell the sugar. The court that had granted a stay, but not before the auction that took place on October 10.

Talking to The Tribune, Dr Anjuman Bhaskar, District Food and Supply Officer, revealed that the high court has given verdict in favour of the district administration. She said out of 10,000 quintals of sugar, 6000 quintal had already been lifted after the auction. She said the remaining quantity of sugar would be lifted now.

Amritsar, February 26
As many as 19 principals from various schools of Goa today visited DAV Public School for interaction with school authorities and students in order to incorporate new study methods and extra curricular activities in their school curriculums.

Amritsar, February 26
Established as industrial estate in the early ’50s and fully developed four decades ago, the East Mohan Nagar area has been crying for urgent attention.

The roads are in bad shape especially the interior parts of the industrial area while the streetlights are almost non-existent.

The area established by the Amritsar Improvement Trust is under the Municipal Corporation for several decades now and the civic body collects huge amount as house tax from the industrialist but gives very little back to the industrial area.

The industrialists rued that repeated requests for the development of infrastructure has fallen on deaf ears. Situated on 100-feet road, many industrial plots have turned into marriage palaces, shops, schools and nursing homes due to the failure of the government to protect the industry and give incentives and economic packages on the lines of neighboring states has resulted in stagnation of the industries and some of entrepreneurs have to close their units.

“The consecutive civic authorities failed to provide proper road infrastructure and the conditions worsens during rains when the water gets accumulated on the sidewalks and the roads and puddles continue to remain for many days causing immense hardships to the people of the area,” said Bhagwan Dass, a small-scale unit owner.

Tilak Raj Mahajan, a senior office bearer of the East Mohan Nagar Industrial Association, said the right part of the industrial area bifurcated by the 100-feet road is continue to suffer the power pangs while the left portion gets continue power supply being part of Punjab State Electricity Board scheme category -II wherein it is connected to focal point industrial area.

He pointed out that in spite of repeated requests to government and PSEB, they have yet to rectify the anomaly. He said with the recent hike in diesel prices, the industrialists of this area have to shell out heavier amount for this malady.

“The sewage disposal has become a perennial problem in Dharm Kandia Wali road with half of the area remained devoid of sewerage,” said Yash Pal Mahajan. Absence of concrete pavements with proper greenbelts and dividers has resulted in huge cloud of dusts hanging in air causing loads of pollution and related breathing ailments, he added.

Other areas that fall in the area include Ram Nagar, Mohan Nagar, Gokul Ka Bagh, New Gokul Ka Bagh, Sultanwind Road etc.

Amritsar, February 26
The traditional Punjabi “Jaago” would harbinger the opening of the sixth edition of the Amritsar Heritage Festival that would commence here on March 4. The “Jagoo” would pass through various bazaars of the city.

Detailing the programme, Deputy Commissioner and Chairman of the organising committee of the festival Kahan Singh Pannu said continuing with the tradition of heritage festival, the programme had been planned to give real exposure to the local talent during the four-day Virasat mela.

He said it would be for the first time that Pakistani theatre artistes would showcase their one of the best plays “Bullah” at Virsa Vihar. The festival would have many “firsts” as this would also be for the first time that classical folk music “akharas” would be held where different artistes would give their performances with typical rural background. “Malvai giddha” would also be the part of the festival.

A heritage march would be organised on March 5 that would start from the historic Ram Bagh, the summer palace of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, and culminate at Virsa Vihar after passing through various parts of the city. A “kavi darbar” would be organised in the evening, besides a play “Dullah”, directed by Shiromani Natakkar Kewal Dhaliwal.

Besides, three plays by upcoming young theatre personalities, kavishar and dhadi darbar, classical dance, photo exhibition and heritage walk would be held on March 6. A sufi music programme by Saida Begam, Akhtar Ali and Raza Khan would be held in the evening while local comedy artiste Rajbir Kaur and Gurpreet Ghuggi would also perform.

On the culminating day, another heritage walk to historic places of the city would be organised. A kite-flying competition and seminar on literary heritage would be held and play “Saavi”, directed by Jagdish Sachdeva, would be staged. Cultural programme, studded with the performances of Amarinder Gill, Raj Brar, Saleem and Gurmit Bawa, would mark the culmination day.

Amritsar, February 26
The Elementary Teachers Training (ETT) teachers today used their blood to write a memorandum of their demands to the Punjab Chief Minister. A similar kind of letter has been submitted to the Deputy Commissioner.

Seeking suitable jobs and protesting against nonrecognition of the ETT degrees, these unemployed teachers stated that the suicide by one of their colleagues recently too could not grab the attention of the state government.

“We have earlier adopted peaceful protests and also gheraoed the Punjab Education Minister in the last three days but in vain. Now, we have decided to take to more aggressive mode.

If the government still do not pay any heed to our demands, we will intensify our agitation,” said Harpinder Singh, state committee member.

Meanwhile, about 4,000 teachers working in the non-government affiliated colleges of Punjab and Chandigarh will be participating in the “Education Bandh”, call for which has been given by the Joint Forum of the Management Federation, Principal Federation and the PCCTU.

In a press communique, the general secretary of the PCCTU, Prof H.S. Walia stated that they were protesting against the indifferent and callous attitude of the state government towards higher education.

The demands included enhancement of grant under 95 per cent grant-in-aid scheme to pay the revised pay scales, lifting ban on recruitments, career advancement scheme for DPEs and Librarians as per UGC letter dated October 19, 2006, pay scale notification for non-teaching employees and implementation of pension and gratuity scheme.

Amritsar, February 26
Even as Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal stated it “illusive” and “injustice meted out to Punjab”, MP Navjot Sidhu resented for not extending freight corridors to enhance trade with neighbouring states, the ground realities were ignored.

The Tribune spoke to people and frequent rail travellers to know their views about the 2010 rail budget presented by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

The general feedback was that apart from damaging the economic viability, there was no place for basic difficulties faced by passengers daily on a platform itself and hardly was there any provision to revamp the system in the budget.

Though, there has been no increase in the rail fares, still the claims by the Congress-led UPA government about putting the common man’s interest on priority too proved to be hollow, if the unspecific provisions for new trains and unmanaged development work on platforms in Punjab are any indication.

For example, at Amritsar railway station, barring platform No 1, all the other platforms have regularly been ignored and no steps have been taken by the ministry to revamp the system. All courtesy to the mismanagement on the part of the authorities concerned, thereby defeating the interest of “aam aadmi”, especially women, children and handicapped persons.

The passengers said that similar situation prevailed at most of the other stations of various cities.

Nevertheless, a visit to Amritsar railway station revealed some startling facts. There were six to seven vendors selling various commodities on platform 2, whereas platforms 2 and 5 were having just one vendor and that too did not offer essential items like water or eatables.

The worst managed is platform 1 which is occupied by halted Shatabdi trains most of the time. This Delhi-bound luxury train occupies this privileged platform from 10.30 pm to 5 am. Thereafter, another Shatabdi train comes on the same platform at 1 pm and remains halted there till 5 pm.

It is pity that all the facilities like urinals for the handicapped, waiting hall, booking office and inquiry counters have been built on this platform.

The passengers rued that other important trains like Shan-e-Punjab, etc., stop on other platforms which lack basic facilities. “We have to cross over to platform 1 to avail facilities like queries about trains, clean urinals, drinking water or other eatables, etc. The government should reorganise this system,” said Ashok Malhotra, a passenger.

Rajat Chugh, a handicapped person, has his genuine problem. “It is quite cumbersome to head to platform 1 to use urinals. “No one is bothered about these basic problems,” he complained.

A further probe into the matter revealed that it was the nexus between railway staff and vendors which was the root cause of these difficulties. A vendor, preferring anonymity, disclosed that some vendors regularly feed railway staff for getting space at platform 1 only.

On economic forum, this budget has ignored the state’s interest like there is no clear-cut policy on extension of already sanctioned Kolkata-Ludhiana Eastern dedicated rail freight corridor to Amritsar; no care has been taken about the state’s pending demand to sanction another western freight rail corridor from Mumbai-Delhi to Amritsar via Ludhiana. Similarly, there is no mention about the rail link between Amritsar and Chandigarh.

Amritsar, February 26
The National Science Day, which falls on February 28, is once again here to remind us the importance of science and the need to imbibe it in day to day life.

Though the department concerned has hardly made any arrangement for any noticeable programme to popularise the role and value of science among common folk, the groups claiming occult and miraculous powers have an easy going.

These claims could be seen in advertisements of various hues installed on roadside banners, handouts, various publications. “The amount of funds being spent on these advertisements and the plush offices in civil line areas indicate their penetration in the society and handsome returns”, said Tarksheel Society’s Zonal Secretary, Sumeet Singh.

Undoubtedly the legislature made provisions in the Constitution to stop the unscientific, unreasoned activities and popularise scientific approach among people.

For instance, the Drugs and Magic Remedies Objectionable Advertisement Act, 1954 and Cable Television Network Regulation Act, 1995, were enacted to provide teeth to the enforcement authorities. He said these laws were vital in safeguarding the gullible people from possible exploitation from the hands of the persons claiming to have occult powers.

Besides, the Union Home Ministry issued guidelines from time to time to stop activities of those persons who under the pretext of occult powers cheat ignorant masses, he said.

He said the Cable Television Network Regulation Act must be implemented in letter and spirit as lately several programmes on private news channels have turned the beliefs of common people towards re-birth, occult powers.

The society successfully closed the shops of Baba Aman and Syed Sahib from the city recently and even filed a case against Baba. The society thanked the authorities from stopping the programme “Raaz Pichle Janam Ka” that claimed to have traced previous births of individuals.

The government spends high proportion of amount for encouragement and proliferation of science and technology yet it allows a number of serials and programmes on television which influences the impressionable mind with its retrograde approach, he regretted and demanded that the message of science and reasoning must be spread among people.