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Sewage trouble in Amritsar
Battling Addiction Red Cross centre doing yeomen’s service
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Ashwani Kumar appointed panel chairman
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Sewage trouble in Amritsar
Amritsar, September 4
Importantly, that the Water Supply and Sewerage Board, it seems, is far from finding a solution to the problem. The (Bakkarwana) bazaar is flooded with sewage, whose foul smell has made life hell for shopkeepers and residents. Iqbal Singh Sherry, a Congress leader from the area, while criticising the authorities of the company alleged that they did not even bother to inform the Municipal Corporation or Sewerage Board officials after damaging the pipes while excavating the land. Surinder Rana and Jagdish Singh, both residents of the area, alleged that the MC authorities were least bothered about the problems being faced by the inhabitants. They alleged the whole road leading to the Dharam Singh market was dug up by the company in order to lay the pillars for the elevated road, connecting the Golden Temple parking with the main elevated road. “Instead they refilled the crater with the earth due to which the sewage entered into the residential complexes and contaminated the water supply,” he said. The affected areas were Jallianwala Bagh, Butt Malka, Dharam Singh Market, Bagh Ramanand, inside Sherawala Gate up to Mahan Singh Gate, all situated in the close proximity of the Golden Temple. Navtez Singh, Xen of Water Supply Department, said they were trying to correct the problem for last four days, yet the problem of water contamination could not be rectified. “We are still on the job,” he added. Bhattarcharya, an official of the company, however, denied the charges saying that the employees of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited had borrowed the JCP machine for digging up the land in order to lay the power cable. He said the company had nothing to do with the excavation of the land and damages to water and sewerage pipes.
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Battling Addiction Red Cross centre doing yeomen’s service
Gurdaspur, September 4 Despite being enveloped by darkness all around him, Ajit sighted some light at the end of the tunnel. A relative took him to the Gurdaspur Red Cross Integrated Rehabilitation Centre for Addicts. Now, with a spring in his step, a fully-cured Ajit successfully runs a cycle repair shop in Batala and earns enough for his wife and two kids. The case of Ajit is symptomatic of thousands of other youths in Gurdaspur district. The Red Cross centre has treated 36,352 addicts till now in the outdoor patient department, while 12,570 addicts got a new lease of life by getting indoor treatment. The centre has gained a name for itself and patients from as far as Siliguri, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi have been treated. An interesting feature of the centre is that the relapse percentage is just 17 to 20 as compared to the national average of 30 per cent. However, project director Romesh Mahajan says he has identified hundreds of drug peddlers in the adjoining cities of Batala and Pathankot who need to be reined in if the scourge of drugs is to be nipped in the bud. He says influential people like Keemto and Pawan Kumar of Gandhi Camp, Batala, are doing roaring business while the police, for some inexplicable reasons, is turning a blind eye to their nefarious activities. He added that he also brought to the notice of the cops the activities of Vijay Kumar and Pawan Kumar, both labourers working at the Batala Co-operative Sugar Mills, who openly sold narcotics. Likewise, Mahajan says in Pathankot the worst affected areas are the new overbridge, Balmiki Mohalla, Dhangupir Dargah, and MH Road. He claimed that just recently he had forwarded a list of 23 drug peddlers to Gurdaspur SSP Lok Nath Angra, who, on his part, assured him that he would rein in the peddlers. Mahajan disclosed that the latest fad among the youth was to taste typewriter fluid which gives a feeling of euphoria. The project director remarked, “We also work on the addict’s psychology and emotional security and we make him search for a new meaning in life.” However, there are many skeptics who say that despite the best efforts of the Red Cross centre, drug addiction is so rampant that every third household is affected by drugs and the authorities should take some concrete steps to check the menace by involving NGOs and well meaning citizens. |
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Ashwani Kumar appointed panel chairman
Gurdaspur, September 4 The committee, which includes 12 other Members of Parliament, would discus threadbare the proposed law which seeks to ensure the elimination of torture inflicted by public servants or anyone else with the consent of a public servant. The other members of the committee are Brinda Karat, S.S. Ahluwalia, Dr E.M. Sudarsana Natchiappan, Shantaram Laxman Naik, Vijaylaxmi Sadho, Janardhan Wahgmare, Kalraj Mishra, Maya Singh, Naresh Gujral, Satish Chander Mishra, Ahmed Saeed Malihabadi and Ashok S Ganguly. — TNS
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Now, the problem has aggravated to such a level that there is a severe blockage of sewage in many localities near the Golden Temple. And, moreover, the damage to pipes has led to contamination of water.