Jalandhar, March 12
The zoning system adopted by the Municipal Corporation (MC) Jalandhar for the imposition of the property tax has received several objections from various quarters.

A meeting on the issue had been convened by Director Local Bodies Priyank Bharti on February 12 last and a public notice on raising objections within one month had appeared on February 15. The MC had given one-month time to the residents to raise objections, which will be taken till March 15.

A city resident Kailash Thukral has raised as many as 17 objections in writing to the officials. He claims that the there were 789 localities covered in eight zones from A to H, whereas there were more than 1,000 colonies in city. He has even attached a list of 300 unauthorised colonies which have not been taken into account.

Thukral also claimed that the collector rate had been wrongly treated as a similar group, as there were several other factors, including the provision of civic amenities, construction type and the use of buildings which had been ignored. His next objection is against the inclusion of Model Town in the zone A which, otherwise, includes only 14 roads which have been declared commercial. He claims that the civic amenities in Model Town are comparable to those in Defence Colony, Deen Dyal Upadhaya Nagar, Urban Estate and other colonies falling in the zone D.

Thukral has also pointed out that unlike Model Town, colonies kept in the zone D, including Central Town, are better located being near to the MC office, post office, sessions court, district administrative complex, railway station, Civil Hospital and even retail and wholesale shopping markets. He claimed such colonies should have been placed in zones B or C.

He has also raised objection over including Tel Wali Gali in the zone C. Terming it as unreasonable to club this colony with posh and planned localities like Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar, he has said that the lane is so congested that even a cycle rickshaw cannot pass by. He has also objected to including expensive flats in house number 690, Mall Road, Model Town, in the zone D wherein all flats of the city have been clubbed.

The owners of SCOs on road in front of the DC office have also reportedly raised a joint objection, claiming that while the collector rate for commercial properties had been kept at Rs 6.5 lakh, it should be placed in the C or D zone instead of A. Manjit Singh Chawla, leading the SCO owners, said the market was still in developing stage and should not be compared with old commercial pockets. 

Jalandhar, March 12
Three persons were killed in two accidents in the district today. In a collision between a tractor-trolley and an Innova at Chuheki village on the Nurmahal-Jandiala road, two persons, riding the tractor, were killed, while the Innova driver was injured.

Those killed in the incident were identified as Mohammad Jainuddin and Mehfuz Mohammad, Bihar residents, settled in Bhullar village.

In the second episode, cyclist Raja got crushed under a tempo at Guru Ravidass Chowk early this morning. Raja, a resident of Kuki Dhab, was leaving for work at Leather Complex when the accident took place. FIRs have been registered in both cases. 

Jalandhar, March 12
A newborn girl was found abandoned on the outskirts of Hirapur village on the Maqsudan-Nandanpur road early this morning.

The four-day-old baby was brought to the Civil Hospital by villagers and policemen from the Lambran police station. She was found to be in a stable condition and was admitted in the paediatrics department.

The baby was reportedly spotted by Ravi, a welder, who was going for the day’s work when he heard her shrieks from among the bushes on the roadside. He said he picked up the baby and wrapped it in a torn towel, removed his own pullover and used it to cover her and warm her body as she had turned blue in the nippy morning.

Ravi said he took her to the village gurdwara and got an announcement done. There she was kept in front of a heater and a doctor was called. The matter was also reported to the police.

An autorickshaw driver Pardeep Singh of the same village, who brought her to the Civil Hospital, said, “We took her first to Pushpa Gujral Nari Niketan, but the staff there insisted that we first take her to Civil Hospital for treatment. There has been no dearth of visitors to the hospital showering their love on her. While some have been buying milk for her, others have been taking her in lap and feeding her with spoons. I got my statement recorded with the police and two woman constables have been now put on job.”

At the Civil Hospital, there were at least four families who showed their keenness in adopting her. Dr Renu, Medical Superintendent, Civil Hospital, said the girl was stable and taking feed. “She is under observation. Tests have been conducted on her. Since the police had brought her here, she would be handed back to them,” she added.

Jalandhar, March 12
To tide over the financial crunch, the Jalandhar Improvement Trust (JIT) is gearing up to construct high-rise MIG flats soon as part of its Surya Enclave Extension scheme.

The 13 towers of 13-storeyed flats will be constructed at a site earmarked at the fag end of the 94.97 acre scheme area near Navyug factory. The process of taking applications for the draw is likely to begin around May end.

Superintending Engineer of the JIT Mukul Soni said 400 flats of the kind would come up at the site, each in an area of 1,550 sq feet. "While the project is pending with the state government for a nod, the allotment price of each flat is being worked out to the tune of Rs 30 lakh to Rs 35 lakh," he divulged.

Jalandhar, March 12
The Suwidha Centre employees, who remained on strike for four days and resumed their duties last evening, were in for a surprise this morning when they got orders of shuffling of their counters.

Even before the employees came in, the DC office staff was already on job to announce the shuffling. Since over 800 applicants visited the complex today, all counters had long queues, with those applying for learner’s driving licence, affidavits, arms licence and marriage registration counters made to wait for an hour or so. There also was a serpentine queue for taking tokens.

Owing to the shuffling, the staff seated on new counters took relatively more time to understand the system, checklist of documents required and other requisite formalities.

The staff had been protesting against the termination of manager Sandeep Sharma last week. The staff resumed its work after it was announced that an inquiry would be held into his conduct.

Since the manager’s seat was vacant, GA to DC Sanjeev Sharma sat through the first half of the day at the centre to resolve various problems. Sharma, however, said that it had been decided to issue a fresh roaster of duties after every fortnight so that the staff became adept in working on all counters and could be accordingly adjusted as and when required. 

The staff had been protesting against the termination of manager Sandeep Sharma last week. The staff resumed its work after it was announced that an inquiry would be held into his conduct. Since the manager’s seat was vacant, GA to DC Sanjeev Sharma sat through the first half of the day at the centre to resolve various problems. Sharma, however, said that it had been decided to issue a fresh roaster of duties after every fortnight so that the staff became adept in working on all counters and could be accordingly adjusted as and when required

Jalandhar, March 12
Sheer negligence on part of a family in getting an anti-rabies injection administered to its son after a dog bite incident six months ago has cost the family members dear.

A resident of Mohalla Purani Kachehri, Parul Sharma (21) died due to rabies last evening. While his elder brother Amit Sharma (23), who too was bitten by the same dog, had got himself vaccinated, Parul did not pay heed to his advice and resultantly faced the consequences. Parul, who had completed his class XII, was working as an astrologer at Mitha Bazaar.

Stray dogs roaming on a road in Jalandhar.

His mother Geeta Sharma said, “He was fine when all of a sudden he complained of body ache and had fever. We gave him medicines, but his condition kept on deteriorating. He developed phobia from everything coming in front of him. We took him to the DMC Ludhiana, PGI Chandigarh and even at a clinic in Nawanshahr but he did not recover.”

Amit was too shocked at the incident to comment. Parul’s friend Adi said, “The brothers had brought a stray puppy home six months ago. Showing concern for the animal, they started feeding it and taking its care. But it started biting everyone in the house, including his mother and sister Pallavi. The puppy then died and they buried it. Parul had himself narrated the entire incident to me, but remained careless in getting himself immunised."

Meanwhile, Makhan Singh, president of Mohalla Purani Kachehri, blamed it all on the Municipal Corporation. “There are so many stray dogs in our colony. We keep on complaining about the same to the MC staff but they do not seem to be bothered,” he rued.

the unfortunate ones: Residents of Jalandhar who have been bitten by stray dogs recuperate in various hospitals. Tribune photos: Malkiat Singh

Dr Satish Sood of the department of communicable medicine at Civil Hospital said Parul’s mother and sister also must get immunised immediately as a prophylactic measure. “The family should have got anti-rabies the day they got bitten and followed the vaccination schedule. Even if they had not taken treatment then, they must do it immediately,” he suggested.

Another dog bite incident

In another incident, a six-year-old boy was bitten by a street dog at Lava Mohalla. Son of a jeweller, Tanish was attacked by a bunch of dogs in the market area. “Fortunately, the shopkeepers from the market came to his rescue and saved him from any grievous injury. He has scars on his forehead, neck and shoulder. The boy has been immunised against rabies and is fine now. The trauma, of course, will prevail,” said area councillor Minta Kochhar. He added, “I have asked the officials concerned to do something to check the growing dog menace. I had raised the issue at the House meeting but there has been no action so far.”

Official Speak

Jalandhar, March 12
Litigants here heaved a sigh of relief, as city advocates resumed normal work in the courts after five days.

While the advocates observed "No work day" on Thursday and Friday to express their solidarity with their Chandigarh counterparts to protest against the registration of an FIR against some lawyers in connection with the alleged thrashing involving a head constable, the courts were closed on Saturday and Sunday.

Thereafter the city advocates again abstained from attending courts on the call given by the Bar Council of India (BCI) to protest against Chandigarh and Jaipur incidents. 

Jalandhar, March 11
Arnav Anand, a Class III student of Apeejay School Model Town, has brought laurels to the city by standing first in the National Level Science Talent Search Examination in Punjab conducted by the Unified Council.

Arnav has obtained 68 marks out of a total of 75, scoring 35 out of 35 in Science and 33 out of 40 in Mathematics.

His father Sanjeev Kumar Anand, a professor of computer science engineering at Lyallpur Khalsa College, said his son had prepared for the examination on his own by way of self-study.

Proud mother Monika Anand, a professor of home science, Apeejay College of Fine Arts, said, "He was just one-and-a-half year old when he won a baby show. Since then, he has been on a winning spree. He is a good orator as well as a dancer. My son even has been a top scorer throughout." 

Kapurthala, March 12
Pushpa Gujral Science City (PGSC) is providing a chance to budding engineers of Punjab and neighbouring states to display their projects and models on its premises during the two-day Inno-Tech from March 19.

PSGC director general Dr RS Khandpur said, “Over 100 students already got themselves registered with the PGSC for displaying their projects and modes in various categories during the Inno-Tech 2013 being organised in collaboration with the Punjab Technical University (PTU) on March 19 and 20.”

“Prior registration with the PGSC by budding engineers for displaying their projects and models is compulsory.” He said, “If any interested budding engineer has not got his or her registration done, he or she may log on to www.pgsciencecity.org for online registration. The deadline for registration is March 16.”

He said interested engineers may display their projects and models under four main categories of engineering college students, polytechnic college students, industrial training students and post-graduate students and teachers.

Former director of Chandigarh-based CISO, Pawan Kapoor, will give away the prizes to the winners of various categories.

Kapurthala, March 12
Some records were reportedly gutted at the National Insurance Company office here when a fire broke out on its premises located near Kacheheri Chowk here on Saturday.

Two fire tenders were pressed into service for putting out the blaze. The exact cause of the fire could not be known. Preliminary reports suggested that the fire broke out due to a short circuit.

Jalandhar, March 12
A week after the tragic accident in which 13 children and a bus driver had lost their lives, District Transport Officer (DTO) Dalwinder Jit Singh held a meeting with the school and college authorities of Nakodar apprising them of their social and moral responsibility regarding safe transport of schoolchildren.

The meeting was held in the office of SDM Nakodar Jasvir Singh. The DTO gave copies of a handout prepared by the department regarding common violations of the Motor Vehicle Act.

He said the traffic police and department officials would continue to conduct challans against erring drivers. He sought their cooperation for improvising the system to avoid any accident.