J A L A N D H A R    E D I T I O N

Students climb atop tank, seek fine waiver
Faridkot, March 26
Nearly 24 students of Regional College of Punjabi University at Jaitu town today climbed atop a water tank to protest heavy fine imposed on them by the college authorities for shortage of attendance.




Students atop a water tank in Jaitu. A Tribune photo

Head constable falls prey to snatchers
Tarn Taran, March 26
Two motorcycle-borne youths snatched the purse of Jaspal Kaur, a head constable, at Chabal-Amritsar bypass. She was also injuring in the incident.

Proposed solid waste dump in Kalanaur draws protests
Kalanaur (Gurdaspur), March 26
The solid waste dump, which is proposed to be set up on a 61-acre piece of land owned by the Kalanaur gram panchayat, has acquired the contours of a major controversy even as the two main political parties --- the Congress and the SAD --- have started playing the blame game.

Pathankot set to get first auditorium
Pathankot, March 26
The tourist hub of Pathankot is all set to get a state-of-the-art auditorium, the first of its kind in the district, with the local Improvement Trust (IT) sanctioning Rs 6 crore for the prestigious project which is scheduled to be completed by July this year. The 700 seat auditorium, which is a brainchild of IT Chairman Anil Vasudeva and Punjab BJP President Ashwani Sharma, will be constructed in the heart of the city at Jathedar Kesar Singh Marg.

Goods worth Rs 5 lakh gutted
Phagwara, March 26
Goods, including machinery, worth Rs 5 lakh were gutted in a fire, which broke out in Marvel Cutters and Repairing Shop in the Model Town locality.

Students climb atop tank, seek fine waiver
Balwant Garg/TNS

Head constable falls prey to snatchers
Our Correspondent

Tarn Taran, March 26
Two motorcycle-borne youths snatched the purse of Jaspal Kaur, a head constable, at Chabal-Amritsar bypass. She was also injuring in the incident.

Jaspal Kaur, who was posted with the police women cell here, was returning to her residence at Police Lines on Amritsar road on her moped. She was hit on the head by the snatchers.

They then decamped with her purse containing Rs 32,000, said the police.

The increasing incidents of snatching in the town have caused fear in residents, especially women. 

Proposed solid waste dump in Kalanaur draws protests
Tribune News Service

Kalanaur (Gurdaspur), March 26
The solid waste dump, which is proposed to be set up on a 61-acre piece of land owned by the Kalanaur gram panchayat, has acquired the contours of a major controversy even as the two main political parties --- the Congress and the SAD --- have started playing the blame game.

The hamlet has become a nodal place where residents, NGOs and political parties pitch tents almost every day to lodge their protest against the setting up of the dump by the Punjab Government.

The reasoning propounded by the locals is that the town is a flood-prone area as it is situated near the Ravi River and the Sakki Nullah. Environmental experts fear that in the event of a flood, there is all likelihood of an epidemic breaking out.

Dera Baba Nanak legislator Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa is in the forefront of the struggle to stop the project from taking concrete shape while Gurdaspur Member Parliament Partap Bajwa also took part in a dharna, organised by a section of residents, on Friday.

A livid Randhawa, claimed, “The state government should have taken the panchayats of the area into confidence before embarking on the venture. The dump will receive waste from the districts of Gurdaspur, Tarn Taran and Amritsar before it is finally taken to the Solid Waste Treatment Plant at Pathankot. On its completion, the area is sure to earn the sobriquet of ‘garbage town’ following which people will stop coming to Kalanuar to meet their relatives. The fear of an epidemic also looms large whenever there are floods in the Ravi and Sakki Nullah.”

“The accumulation of solid waste can also have an effect on land value, create public nuisance apart from interfering with community life and development. Moreover, 74 panchayats of the area have also passed a resolution opposing the dump. I have already sounded out the authorities concerned in Chandigarh on the impending dangers of the dump. I along with other senior Congressmen of the area will fight tooth and nail to ensure the dump is not established here,” added Sukhjinder Randhawa.

Adding a political tinge to the controversy, Randhawa said that former Agriculture Minister Sucha Singh Langah failed to live upto the expectations of the people when the project was initially envisaged. “Where was Langah when the state government initially proposed the setting up of the dump?” questioned Randhawa.

Langah could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

Meanwhile, a 21 member action committee led by Jagjit Singh of the CPM (Pasla) started a chain-hunger strike today.

Residents are so agitated about the setting up of the dump that they block the Gurdaspur-Kalanaur-Dera Baba Nanak road almost daily putting to inconvenience thousands of commuters.

Pathankot set to get first auditorium
Ravi Dhaliwal/TNS

Pathankot, March 26
The tourist hub of Pathankot is all set to get a state-of-the-art auditorium, the first of its kind in the district, with the local Improvement Trust (IT) sanctioning Rs 6 crore for the prestigious project which is scheduled to be completed by July this year. The 700 seat auditorium, which is a brainchild of IT Chairman Anil Vasudeva and Punjab BJP President Ashwani Sharma, will be constructed in the heart of the city at Jathedar Kesar Singh Marg.

The construction work has been entrusted to an Amritsar-based firm while separate tenders for acoustics and air-conditioning will be floated once the hall is established.

Vasudeva, who is not only personally supervising the work, but who is also ensuring that red-tapism does not hamper work, said the land for the purpose was already in the possession of the Trust, while all other clearances and sanctions from various departments have been taken for the project.

"During the previous SAD-BJP dispensation, Sharma organised a competition for architects after which the construction plans were finalised. Five kanals of land was in the possession of the IT and to make optimum utilisation of this land we hit upon the idea to construct an auditorium because the city was bereft of one. It was a long standing demand of art and culture lovers and various NGOs. Moreover, there was no appropriate place for holding the international-level 'mushaira' in which renowned poets from Pakistan take part. Once it is completed, the IT with the help of advisers, drawn from the city's cultural elite, will manage the project."

Goods worth Rs 5 lakh gutted
Our Correspondent

Phagwara, March 26
Goods, including machinery, worth Rs 5 lakh were gutted in a fire, which broke out in Marvel Cutters and Repairing Shop in the Model Town locality.

Shop owner Karan Sarwata said he was going to Chintpurni Devi temple in Himachal Pardesh when he received a phone call from his neighbour Paramjit Singh about the fire and he returned to Phagwara and found the goods destroyed in the fire.

A short circuit in electric wires was said to be the cause of fire, which could be controlled by fire tenders after two hours.