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Finally, MC wakes up to acute garbage crisis
Shortage of safai karamcharis may cripple work
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MC’s sanitation wing challans six traders for disposing of waste in the open
Sellers cash in on shortage of stamp papers
Kidnapping case against family leads youth to attempt suicide
Another phone seized from jail inmate
battling
a menace
Six of robbers’ gang in police net
32 samples of food items collected from shops at mall
GNDU strikes gold at athletics event
Travel and food show ready to tickle the taste buds of Punjabis
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Finally, MC wakes up to acute garbage crisis
Amritsar, January 31 Today’s drive kicked off from areas around Guru Ram Das Sarai located near the Golden Temple complex at about 8.30 am and continued till 12 noon in the presence of Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora, MC Commissioner Bhupinder Singh, Assistant Commissioner Surinder Singh, BJP leader Tarun Chugh, councillor of ward 41 Harwinder Kaur, councillor of ward 42 Manmohan Singh and top level officials of the Health, Land Development, Municipal Town Planning, Streetlight, Civil and Horticulture wings. Wards 1, 16, 23, 41 and 49 were chosen in the first part. Besides this, the fire brigade was pressed into service for cleaning up the interlocking tiles at Hall Gate and pedestrian paths. The statue of Shaheed Udham Singh too was washed up by the fire brigade team. MC teams supervised the garbage lifting process, and checked out sewerage, water supply and streetlight facilities prevailing in these wards. A detailed report was prepared by the officials of the department and on-the-spot remedial measures were taken up by the teams. Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora said each Thursday would be dedicated to plug the shortcomings faced by residents. “We have drafted a schedule of monitoring all the 65 wards. On every Thursday, our teams with the necessary machinery will be on roads to redress the grievances of next five wards,” he said. Showing concern about the garbage lifting system which is on the verge of collapse as well as the encroachments set up by residents, MC Commissioner Bhupinder Singh said it would take around 100 days to transform the scenario. “We are committed to provide good living standards to residents. At the same time, I appeal to residents to cooperate with us and at least participate in our mission by just making their surroundings of home or commercial place clean. This in itself would be enough to bring the change. Similarly, I appeal the residents and traders to remove all the encroachments on the public land on their own and make holy city an organised city,” he said. Special drive
launched
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Shortage of safai karamcharis may cripple work
Sources said a pact was signed between the ruling alliance and protesting safai karamcharis prior to the Assembly elections and subsequently the corporation elections to regularise their services as well as to engage fresh hands. But it all ended up as a political stunt. The huge bundles of application files had piled up in the MC office. There are around 2000 safai karamcharis registered with the AMC for cleaning up the holy city and around 1000 more are required for the job. Over 20,000 applications were received during the interview sessions held for a month at the Town Hall building of the MC. Youths from as far as Jalandhar, Patti, Pathankot and Ludhiana also applied for the posts. As a policy matter, a committee was to be constituted to scrutinise the fresh applications as well as those who were engaged on a temporary basis for regularising their services. But till date, this committee could not be formed. Charan Das, president of Punjab Municipal Workers Union told that there is acute shortage of safai karamcharis in Amritsar. Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora: To compensate the shortage of safai karamcharis, we are going to hire extra hands on DC rates. This implies that we will get safai karamcharis on monthly wages of around Rs 3,000.
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MC’s sanitation wing challans six traders for disposing of waste in the open
Amritsar, January 31 The violators were issued challans under Section 323 of the MC Act. The violators were Puran Da Dhaba, a liquor vend and four other traders located just opposite the bus stand. A team led by sanitary inspector JS Nagi carried out this drive following directions of MC Commissioner Bhupinder Singh. There have been repeated complaints of traffic disruption due to encroachments done by a number of dhabas, restaurants, traders and vendors opposite the bus stand. Similarly, the several hotels and lodges on this stretch disposed of the waste in the open. MC Commissioner Bhupinder Singh said those who have been issued challans would have to appear in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate on February 15. “It was a much-needed move. Now others too would fall in line and comply with MC sanitation norms. It will be a continuous campaign and we will choose areas at random and take action instantly,” he said. A strict step
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Sellers cash in on shortage of stamp papers
Amritsar, January 31 Bank manager Harcharan Singh said two shops in the Hall Gate area offered to sell him the Rs 100 stamp paper at Rs 150. But he refused to spend extra money for the stamp papers. An advocate in district courts complex said, “I had to spend Rs 200 for the Rs 100 paper.” He said the people especially those who want stamp papers of smaller denominations, which are required for notary documents and signing of various agreements, were the worst hit. District Treasury Officer Aman Kumar Maini admitted that there is a shortage of stamp papers in the district. Expecting arrival of new supplies, he said the shortage would end within 12 days. The district treasury in a month, on an average, requires stamp papers worth Rs 2.5 crore approximately. Maini said officials had been sent to Nasik, where these are published, for procuring the stamp papers. “We hope that in next three days, these would reach Ludhiana treasury from where the districts would be allotted their quota,” he said. Talking about the arbitrary prices charged by the stamp paper sellers, Maini said stamp papers could not be sold above their designated value. He said action would be taken after verifying facts.
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Kidnapping case against family leads youth to attempt suicide
Amritsar, January 31 Vishal Kumar, a resident of Nehru Colony, Majitha road, consumed some poisonous substance and later turned up at the Sadar police station where a case against him and his family members had been registered for the alleged kidnapping. He also took the girl, reportedly minor, to the police station. Now, the Rambagh police has booked Vishal for the suicide attempt. Vishal had an affair with the girl of the same locality. He eloped with girl after their families did not give consent to their marriage. He went to Jammu where they tied the knots at a religious shrine. On January 29, they returned to the district. Later they discovered that the girl’s family had lodged a complaint against him and his family. His family members were arrested and sent to jail. He decided to end his life by consuming some poisonous substance near the bus stand. Then the couple hired a rickshaw and reached the Sadar police station. He fell unconscious after telling the police that he had consumed poisonous substance. He was immediately rushed to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital. The police authorities said that Vishal has been booked under section 309 IPC while further investigations were under progress.
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Another phone seized from jail inmate
Amritsar, January 31 The accused has been identified as Vijay Kumar of Basti Bawa Khel, Jalandhar. A case under Sections 420 of the IPC and 42 of the Prisoners Act has been registered against the accused at the Cantonment police station. The Central Jail authorities seized a mobile phone from an undertrial, identified as Yadwinder Singh of Tehran Kalan village, Amritsar, on Wednesday.
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battling
a menace Manmeet Singh Gill Tribune News Service
Amritsar, January 31 Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal, Deputy Commissioner of Police Kaustubh Sharma, Civil Surgeon Dr Yash Mitra, District Social Security Officer Narinderjit Singh Pannu and District TB Officer Dr Naresh Chawla were present on the occasion. Inaugurating the counselling centre, Rajat Aggarwal said it would be a boon for the drug affected area. The administration has plans to refer drug addicts counselled at the centre to the Civil Hospital and Swami Vivekanand Drug De-addiction Center. A DOT centre and sputum collection centre were also inaugurated in the area. District TB Officer Dr Naresh Chawla said the area now has six DOT centres. He said the health department has detected 85 patients of tuberculosis in the area. He said because of the poor sanitation facilities, slum areas like Maqboolpura are always at a high risk of diseases such as TB. The officials also visited Citizen Forum Vidhya Mandir School, run by an NGO for the children of drug affected families. Rajat Aggarwal lauded the role of Master Ajit Singh for his efforts to provide education to the children of deprived section of the society. Ajit Singh said at present the school provides education to 656 children in the area. He said the school was managed with the help of various social organisations. A medical checkup camp under the School Health Programme was also organised at the school today. Aggarwal asked the Civil Surgeon to initiate an awareness campaign for health and cleanliness in the area. He said awareness camps should be organised every month. Coming as a
boon
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Six of robbers’ gang in police net
Amritsar, January 31 Six members of the gang --- Satnam Singh of Tarsikka (currently living in Batala); Ravinder Singh of Khalsa Nagar, Tarn Taran road; Gurjinder Singh of Anaitpur, Majitha; Harpal Singh of Power Colony; Varpal and Joga Singh of Chatiwind --- were arrested. The police seized a .12 bore pistol and sharp-edged weapons besides 56 mobiles from their possession. A case under Sections 399, 402, 457, 380 and 411 of the IPC has been registered against them in this regard. The police authorities said the accused were involved in a number of theft cases which occurred in Amritsar and its adjoining areas. We carried out a raid after getting information that they were sitting near a graveyard in the Chatiwind area. The police team headed by the SHO raided the area and arrested the accused. The police seized a pistol (.12 bore) with three live cartridges from the possession of Satnam Singh. A separate case under Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act has been registered against him. During interrogation, the accused reportedly confessed that they had stolen the mobile phones from a shop and were involved in a theft in Batala. The police has also seized stolen electronic items following their questioning. Meanwhile, the Beas police nabbed Daljit Singh of Jharunangal village for allegedly possessing over 500 gm of narcotic powder.
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32 samples of food items collected from shops at mall
Amritsar, January 31 The team was led by District Health Officer Dr Shivkaran Singh Kahlon. Few of the shops from where samples were collected included Thirst Burst, Coffee Tree, Coconut leaf, Bellisimo and In China. Talking to The Tribune, District Health Officer Dr Pradip Singh Kahlon said the team had selected the shops randomly. He said the samples would be sent to a laboratory at Chandigarh for testing. He said the shops whose samples are found lacking in quality would be taken to task. He warned the shopkeepers against selling substandard and poor quality items to the customers. He said more of such raids would be conducted in the coming days to curb malpractices in the business. He also requested the shopkeepers to get registered under the food safety Act by February 4.
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GNDU strikes gold at athletics event Amritsar, January 31 The GNDU athletes won a gold in 4X100-metres relay and three gold medals in individual events. Dr HS Randhawa, Deputy Director Sports, said this was for the first time that university had won the gold in 4x100-m relay. The relay team comprised Maninder, Amarbir, Kulbir and Rohit Mehra. The GNDU has also won three gold medals in individual events. Maninder Singh won a gold medal in 100-m race, Lovejeet Singh in hammer throw and Khushbir Kaur won gold medal in 5-km walk. Arshdeep, Arwinder, Harpreet and Harjinder won a bronze in 4x400 m relay.
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The route has several important hospitals schools and educational institutions on the way. The road is the busiest as it is a part of the Grand Trunk (GT) Road leading to the Wagah border and also has a number of important institutions like Chief Khalsa Diwan, Punjab Natshala, GNDU, Khalsa College and major medical facilities like Amandeep and Navdeep Hospital on the way.
The road is not narrow, but fails to cope up with the heavy traffic flow and is prone to many accidents and traffic log jams. Traffic violations are frequent on road resulting in congestion and chaos. The 3 km stretch from GNDU to Pultighar has a total of 11 small crossings, which adds to the chaos as cross lane driving and wrong side driving are some regular violations.
The cycle or pedestrian track, constructed along the road, at Pultighar commercial complex remain unused as all the cyclists, rickshaw pullers and other such vehicles prefer commuting on the main road thus further slowing down the traffic flow. Haunted by illegal Parking of vehicles A major portion of the road is also being eaten away due to illegal and unauthorised parking. The commercial stretch starting just ahead of Putlighar and extending till railway station traffic lights has become a hub of unauthorised parking, causing traffic jams. Since, the area has busy commercial activity throughout the day, long queues of four-wheelers could be seen especially during evening hours. "These vehicles cover the major portion of the road during peak hours thus creating big nuisance. Moreover, many vehicles can be seen parked on the road as their users go for shopping," says Rajiv Kumar, a shopkeeper from the area.
The story is no different at the Court Road roundabout where there are several eating joints and hotels where the vehicles can be seen parked any time without any check. The Mall Road stretch which has shopping and commercial complexes adds to the traffic chaos at various junctions. The problem is same, unauthorised parking. No cycle or pedestrian
tracks
What needs to be
done? Who is to
blame? Choke points
officialspeak Baljit Singh Randhawa, ADCP, Traffic COMMUTERS speak Preet Singh, owner, show store in Putlighar
Rajiv Kapoor, another shopkeeper in Putlighar
Kewal Dhaliwal, theatre person, resident of Putlighar:
Sukhwinder Singh Randhawa, a commuter from Putlighar
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Travel and food show ready to tickle the taste buds of Punjabis
Amritsar, January 31 Khao Piyo Aish Karo, a one hour travelogue-cum-food show, is here with its promise of providing new and exciting frontiers of flavour, aroma and Punjabi culture. "Well, you cannot separate food from Punjabi culture as it has been a passion shared in their genes. And when in Amritsar, eat like Amritsaris do. The city has so much to offer and explore in terms of food culture that it is impossible to think of a food show without mentioning Amritsar," shares Harpreet Hanjrah, the pretty Punjaban who will host the show. The Miss Punjaban winner will take to the streets in search of ethnic flavours, cuisine and techniques of prominent food hubs in the region, the show will feature the best culinary delights of North. Whether it's the Kashmiri dum aloo or Rajasthani gatte ki karhi, the ghevar or very own dal makhani, the show will combine travelling and feasting for the audiences. "Along with the food, we will also feature places of importance, heritage and culture. The essence of any travel or food show is bringing something new or exciting to the audience in each city we travel. We have put in a lot of research into charting out the history and various ancient techniques of cooking still being used. Like Kesar Da Dhaba in the walled city still uses the five-decade old technique to cook dal makhani. Or the desert style cooking of Rajasthani cuisine. With each episode the foodies will have an experience of a lifetime," says Harpreet. The show will be aired on ZETC Punjabi on weekends and will travel across Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Rajasthan to tickle taste buds. In Punjab, it will travel to Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala, Ludhiana and Chandigarh in search of the old and popular cuisine. The show is a comeback for Harpreet after a gap of two years, who will be the food guide for viewers. "I am a true blue Punjabi and foodie and fascinated by the richness of flavours when used with slight innovation. It is a fact that the flavours change after every few hundred kilometres in India," Miss Punjaban says. In Amristar, Hanjrah enjoyed feasting on makhan fish and phirni. "You don't get them anywhere else in the world, at least the flavour." Harpreet who has had stints with Punjabi cinema with films like Majajan and Akhiyan Udeek Dian, is happy to don the chef's cap and travel far and wide. "I want to engage the young Punjabi who likes his butter chicken as much as the dal batti choorma and zinger burgers," Harpreet Hanjrah signs off. Show
time Host speak — Harpreet Hanjrah
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Amritsar, January 31
Amritsar, January 31
Amritsar, January 31
Amritsar, January 31
Tribune staffers travelled on 7.5-km stretch of GNDU-Nehru Shopping Complex road, during normal and peak rush hours to find out how the road was a commuters' nightmare. It took 40 minutes to cover the distance during peak traffic hours between 11am to 1pm and 4pm to 7pm as compared to the 15 minutes it takes during normal or slow traffic hours.
It is also one of the most popular commercial areas in the city with Putlighar being an important commercial complex. Apart from the regular commuters, a lot of tourist travel through the road on their way to Wagah border.
Why the administration is not able to get solution for the nuisance? There are various tow-away vans for checking illegal parking in the area, but none has ever been seen operating. 
I think nobody is serious about traffic management in the city. The road users are being harassed every day. There is no stand for auto-rickshaws and lack of planning results in traffic jams. I prefer to walk to my home rather than take my car because of traffic hassles on the road. 
Parking should be regularised. There should be separate lanes for cycle and auto-rickshaws to clear the traffic jam during peak hours. Also, the traffic signal at Putlighar chowk often becomes non-functional, which leads to traffic chaos. Proper management of traffic signals, especially at heavy traffic areas, could give commuters some respite.