Jalandhar, July 16
A majority of the diarrhoea patients who were admitted in different government and private hospitals following the outbreak of the water-borne disease were discharged today.

The patients, who were admitted in serious condition in the Civil Hospitals at Jalandhar, Nakodar, Noormahal and Phillaur have shown improvement in their health. While 22 patients are still undergoing treatment at the Civil Hospital, Jalandhar, five are admitted at Nakodar. Out of the total 83 registered patients at Nakodar hospital, 54 were sent home after treatment.

The diarrhoea claimed the life of a teenager girl, besides taking 26 children and 11 women in its grip at Shamshabad village, near Noormahal, on Thursday.

Dr T.P. Singh, district epidemiologist, claimed that three stool samples were sent to Government Medical College and Hospital, Amritsar, for examination. The reports of the samples of water and stool were expected within the next three days.

He said that medical teams with ambulances and medicines had been stationed in the diarrhoea-affected area. Twenty patients were examined at the OPD in the village.

Meanwhile, the teams of water supply and sanitation today visited the affected area and found that the villagers were drawing water supply from a community maintained water tank. The team also found cow dung piled around the water tank.

The health authorities also got the filth and the heaps of cow dung removed from near the tank and asked the residents not to use water from it.

Phillaur, July 16
She could have been saved had proper medical help been provided to Shamshabad girl Bobby. She was taken to an RMP after she suffered from gastroenteritis. The RMP could not treat her and ultimately she was brought to Noormahal where she died yesterday morning. Jalandhar ADC (D) Sarojini Gautam Sharda told The Tribune here today that the RMP had absconded.

Babbu, daughter of a labourer, Lehmber Singh, was cremated in the village last evening.

Sharda handed over a financial help of Rs 10,000 to the family of the deceased on behalf of district administration. Meanwhile about 34 patients admitted in various hospitals at Noormahal, Nakodar and Jalandhar were recovering, while the remaining were discharged today. On the other hand, four more patients of gastroenteritis reported at Noormahal hospital today, but were discharged after treatment, claimed Phillaur SDM Pritam Singh.

Sharda said the Shamshabad panchayat was having its own arrangement for drinking water with the help of a few NRIs and had abandoned the water supply provided by the Public Health Department being supplied from nearby Ajjani village due to low pressure. She said the panchayat had violated the rules, while the department could not act against the violation.

Preliminary investigations showed that villagers took a langar three days back and the samples of curry supplied in the langar had also been taken. She said water of the affected localities might be contaminated after drawing it with the help of tullu pumps to meet the requirement of drinking water during langar.

The ADC said public health officials had been instructed to send mobile teams to check the entire water connections in the village.

Pathankot, July 16
The row between Congress councillors and Dinanagar Municipal Council President Vijay Mahajan came to an end yesterday with an assurance by the latter for taking up development works in the wards represented by Congress members.

Before the matter was resolved, DYC activists, led by District Youth Congress president Kartik Wadhera, marched through Dinanagar town and raised slogans against the civic body president. Later the Youth Congress activists went to the office of the Municipal Council where the civic chief had deliberations with Congress councillors and the DYC chief for about half an hour. Mahajan gave an assurance to Congressmen that their wards would not be discriminated against as far as development works were concerned. On the insistence of the DYC chief, the MC president had a telephonic conversation with Gurdaspur MP Partap Singh Bajwa too. — OC

Gurdaspur, July 16
Gurdaspur MP Partap Singh Bajwa has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to set up a plant of Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited (BHEL) at Batala keeping in view the fact that it was an industrial township and would be able to cater to the demands of the plant.

In a letter written to the PM, Bajwa has said, “Batala is an industrial town in Punjab where a large number of small and medium industries are operating. However, there is no large-scale industry in the town which can cater to the employment needs of the locals. If a plant is set up on the lines of the BHEL plant established in Hardwar, many ancillary units will also come up. Such a venture will also bring in economic growth in the state,” said Bajwa.

The MP said he was in constant touch with Heavy Industries Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, who, in turn, had agreed to send a team of experts to Batala to examine the feasibility of such a plant.

Hoshiarpur, July 16
Providing relief to Surjit Kaur, widow of Jit Singh of Bham village, the District Consumer Forum, headed by President P.D. Goel, has ordered the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India to pay Rs 1 lakh to the former along with interest at the rate of 9 per cent per annum from the date of filing the complaint and litigation expenses Rs 1,000 within one month.

Surjit Kaur had filed a complaint against the local branch of the LIC and its Divisional Office, Jalandhar, alleging that the insurance company illegally repudiated the claim of the insurance policy of her deceased husband (life assured) on the ground that the latter had concealed facts at the time of purchasing the policy.

The company further alleged that Jit Singh deliberately gave wrong answer to column 9 on the proposal form.

He disclosed earlier two policies in the proposal form and did not disclose about the lapsed policy.

The forum held that the present policy was a new policy so it could legitimately be concluded that it was a fresh contract between the life assured and the insurance company. Thus, it did not lie in the mouth of the insurance company that the life assured was guilty of making a false statement or concealment of material fact regarding the lapsed policy.

It was further held that the disclosure or non-disclosure of previous lapsed policy in the proposal form against column 9 did not amount to concealment of material fact nor it could be said that the life assured was guilty of intentional and deliberate giving of wrong answer of column 9 of the proposal form as there was no necessity to disclose with regard to the lapsed policy at the time of purchasing the new policy.

The non-disclosure of the lapsed policy had no effect on the issuance of the new policy.

Hoshiarpur, July 16
Of the total deaths below the age of 70 years in India, 52.2 per cent are due to heart diseases, whereas the percentage of such deaths in developed countries is 22.8.

If proper attention is not given to the problem, the percentage could increase to 64 in the next five years.

These views were expressed by Dr Anwar Khan, a renowned cardiologist of northern India, while addressing a seminar organised by the Shri Ram Charit Manas Parchar Mandal for awareness among the public about the causes of day-to-day increase in heart diseases in the country, here last evening.

Regular consumption of junk food at younger age, use of tobacco, smoking and lack of physical exercise are the main reasons for developing heart diseases.

By controlling blood sugar, blood pressure and clusters in human body, meditating, taking morning and evening walks, performing yoga, following of patience and peace, one could avoid heart diseases.

Later, Dr Anwar Khan examined heart patients.

Jalandhar, July 16
A teenager girl was allegedly gang-rapped by her next-door neighbours in Lohian, near here. Thought the crime occurred on Tuesday night, it came to light after the girl’s parents took up the issue with members of the Pendu Mazdoor Union (PMU) last evening.

The victim, who was undergoing treatment at a private hospital, was later shifted to the Civil Hospital and a complaint was lodged at Lohian police station.

In his complaint to the police, the victim’s father Amarjit Singh, a gateman with the RFC, alleged that his neighbours Laxmi, his sons Raju and Vijay, and their one unidentified aide, abducted his 17-year-old daughter and gang-rapped her. Two of them scaled the boundary wall of their house in Padda Colony on Monday night when she was sleeping alone in a room and abducted her. After committing the crime, they abandoned her in a remote area. The accused had also threatened the girl with dire consequences if she told anybody about the incident, he added.

The girl reached home early in the morning and narrated the episode to her mother. The girl was admitted in a private hospital after her condition deteriorated.

The police has registered a case of rape against Laxmi, Raju, Vijay and one unidentified person at Lohian, SHO Manjit Singh said. The medical examination of the girl was conducted at Shahkot hospital this evening. No arrest has been made in this regard so far.