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MC liabilities mount to Rs 50 crore
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Sukhbir orders for preparation of master plan for city
With season’s first rain, MC, Health Dept gear up to fight epidemic outbreak
City-born lad’s film on '84 riots wins award at int'l film fest
Stick to deadline for works in city, says Sukhbir
Villagers seek ASI’s suspension
Clerk suspended for showing widow as
dead Youth found dead
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MC liabilities mount to Rs 50 crore
Jalandhar, June 12 The fiscal situation has turned from bad to worse in the past three years with the liabilities of the civic body having increased to a whopping Rs 50 crore. A group of 15 contractors have already managed to seek relief from courts with directions issued to the MC to make their payments latest by June 30. The remaining contractors have brought all development works in the city to a complete halt. For the same reason, all development projects in the city, including re-carpeting of roads, construction of Chandan Nagar railway under-bridge (RUB), renovation of Nehru Garden and flyover at Kapurthala Chowk have been held up. A loan to the tune of Rs 60 crore sought from HUDCO, too, has not got clearance as of now. To overcome the financial crisis, the MC now intends to sell off its properties, including 63 shops in the basement of its administrative complex and a commercial land measuring 3 kanal 12 marlas at Maqsudan. The auction of shops is scheduled for June 17, while that of commercial chunk of land is fixed on June 18. The recoveries from the three branches, including house tax, water supplies and building, of the MC have been going extremely slow. Rs
21.4 crore house tax outstanding
While the outstanding amount was Rs 19.8 crore on January 31 this year, it has jumped to Rs 21.4 crore in four months. Staff claim that it was owing to the flip-flop on the imposition of property tax that the recoveries on this account had become slow all of a sudden. The department had envisaged collection of Rs 50 crore from the property tax this year, but the plan of earning big bucks has so far failed. Even though the department had offered an amnesty scheme that lapsed on May 31 asking the defaulters to pay the dues waiving the entire amount of interest, the MC has only been able to make a recovery of Rs 1.45 crore. Finally swinging into action, the staff has now started the process of issuing notices to the defaulters and even sealing their premises for failing to make the payment. The department has served notices to as many as 161 house tax defaulters asking them to pay the dues in three days or face sealing or auction for recovery of the amount. Taking an exemplary action, one factory was sealed in the Industrial Area yesterday by the MC staff. Assistant Commissioner-cum-in charge of the House Tax Branch Ved Vyas claims that of the total default amount, Rs 5 crore seemed unrecoverable as these dues were to come from slum localities, including Bhargo Camp, Gandhi Camp, Kabir Nagar, Abadpura, Mohalla Karar Khan and Neelamahal. He said an amount of Rs 100 due from a family in such locality since 1985 has now increased to Rs 5,000. The department also faces a Herculean task to make recoveries from Focal Point, where 90 per cent of the industrialists have refused to pay Rs 4 crore due from them. Water and Sanitation Department has
Rs 41 crore dues unpaid
The default amount of the Water and Sanitation Department is double as it hovers around Rs 41 crore. The amnesty scheme for illegal water connections and water supply charges, too, has lapsed with very minimal recovery of Rs 2.5 crore made till May 31. The amount that the department is collecting annually from this source is in fact far too less that than it spends. While the department has targeted to make a recovery of Rs 25 crore from water bills in the coming year, the amount it spends each year on infrastructure and staff salary is far above at Rs 242 crore. Recovery low in Building Branch
The Building Branch has miserably failed to achieve any of its targets in the previous years. Even the budget report points out that the collection from the building application fee and change of land use (CLU), which was pegged at Rs 15 crore, could only touch Rs 6.4 crore. The collection from the building composition fee, which was targeted to be Rs 10 crore in 2012-13, could only touch the 50 per cent mark. The amount to be collected from the external development charges was proposed to be Rs 9 crore with only 10 per cent realisation at the end of financial year. Officials of the department claim to have had little recovery owing to the delay in the clearance of the CLU policy. official speak
— Vinay Bublani, Commissioner, MC
— Sunil Jyoti, mayor
— Jagdish Raja, Leader of the Opposition in MC House
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Sukhbir orders for preparation of master plan for city
Jalandhar, June 12 Presiding over a meeting of senior government functionaries to review the projects of Jalandhar and Doaba region in Chandigarh last evening, Sukhbir said there was a need for having a inclusive master plan that would include rehabilitation of sewerage network, water supply network and providing metered connections to every inhabitation. Sukhbir said, "Besides, the master plan would finalise the setting up of sewerage treatment plants and solid waste treatment plants, redesigning and widening of interior and arterial roads of the city, conceptualising new road engineering to ensure smooth flow of traffic, installation of CCTV cameras all over the cities and most importantly controlling the execution of the master plan with a singular nodal agency." Laying the future roadmap for Jalandhar, the heartland of Doaba, Sukhbir said though Jalandhar was known as the sports city of India and had the sizable presence of leather processing industries, it had not been able to cope up with increasing pressure on civic amenities. The Deputy CM said, "The master plan must include 100 per cent coverage for sewerage and water supply network, rehabilitating the old sewerage network, laying the storm water drains along all the roads, water recharging facilities to meet future demands and providing mandatory sewerage and water connections to all inhabitant units." He added that the Municipal Corporation of Jalandhar should also draw up a plan to provide energy efficient LED streetlights, construction of sufficient number of bus queue shelters and plantation of saplings along the roads, wherever feasible. Emphasising on the upgrade of existing road network besides planning new roads to streamline the traffic in the city, Sukhbir asked the PWD authorities to put up a comprehensive proposal in this regard. He said while expanding the existing roads, care should be taken that there was minimum displacement of population. Asking the Traffic Department authorities to put up traffic lights on busy intersections, Sukhbir asked them to enforce "no-parking" regulation strictly. He asked the Jalandhar MC to float tenders for bidding for outdoor advertising panels for advertising and also issued instructions for launching a campaign against the illegal hoardings, dotting various roads. Expressing concern over slow execution of solid waste collection project in Jalandhar, Sukhbir asked the Jalandhar Municipal Commissioner Vinay Bublani to replicate the Lahore model in Jalandhar and engage the services of Turkish company managing Lahore services as consultant for the success of the project. He asked the Commissioner to visit Lahore if it was necessary to study the project. Sukhbir also constituted a sub-committee, comprising Manvesh Singh Sidhu, Special Principal Secretary to Deputy CM and Chief Administrator, PUDA, Supreet Singh Gulati, Chief Administrator, Jalandhar Development Authority and Jalandhar Municipal Commissioner Vinay Bublani, to put up suggestive plan after taking feedback from various opinion leaders, including elected representatives of the area. Prominent among those present in the meeting included Local Bodies Minister Bhagat Chuni Lal, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Krishan Dev Bhandari, MLA Manoranjan Kalia, MLA Pargat Singh, Mayor Sunil Jyoti and senior officers of various departments. |
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With season’s first rain, MC, Health Dept gear up to fight epidemic outbreak
Jalandhar, June 12 As the sewage ponds and dirty drains (mostly adjoining slum areas or shanties) filled to the brim, the MC and health authorities said they were doing everything possible to counter the scare of water and vector-borne diseases. MC Commissioner Vinay Bublani today said the corporation's main agenda this year was to clean sewerage and chlorinate water from tubewell connections. "Our first aim was to carry out de-silting and cleaning of sewage lines before any disease erupts. Water supply was also controlled to allow for the smooth cleaning of sewerage for which extra workforce was deputed. The process will be over by the end of June. Areas with chronic complaints in this regard were specially taken care of," Bublani said while talking to The Tribune. "The second step has been the chlorination of water supply from the tubewells to avoid eruption of diseases. Much of this has also been done and it will be complete by the moth end," he added. Bublani said the rain had been used as a trial to check which city areas suffer from waterlogging. Staff was specially called today and put on alert to check the same. "With these measures, we hope the threat of disease will be substantially reduced," the MC Commissioner said. While dengue, jaundice or malaria have been claiming lives in the city during the summer every year, the health authorities also claimed to have made adequate plans to counter the scare of both water and vector-borne diseases. Civil Surgeon Dr RL Bassan said, "While meetings have been held in this regard, the department is carrying out awareness drives and working to sensitise people on the issue." District epidemiologist Dr Tarsem Singh said, "We have dedicated every month to fight a particular disease. While last month was Malaria month, next would be dengue month. We have started disease prevention methods by holding meetings and apprising every department about the measures to be taken. We have held meetings with the sanitation, roadways, Mandi Board and MC departments to discuss disease prevention. In June itself, we will also be holding more meetings with doctors. The sensitive and high focus areas have also been identified and many doctors have also been deputed for disease prevention measures already." Sources said in several sensitive areas, spraying of preventive medicines had also been started. Areas identified as sensitive by the health authorities include Indira Colony, Gandhi Camp (a positive malaria case was also detected in the area last month), Basti Gujan, Basti Bawa Khel, Raj Nagar, Baba Budha Ji Nagar and all the slums besides areas which have previously witnessed a disease outbreak. Officialspeak — Quote unquote Our first aim was to carry out de-silting and cleaning of sewage lines before any disease erupts. Water supply was also controlled to allow for the smooth cleaning of sewerage for which extra workforce was deputed. The process will be over by the end of June. — Vinay Bublani, MC Commissioner While meetings have been held in this regard, the department is carrying out awareness drives and working to sensitise people on the issue. — Dr RL Bassan, Civil Surgeon We have dedicated every month to fight a particular disease. While last month was malaria month, next would be dengue month. We have started disease prevention methods by holding meetings and apprising every department about the measures to be taken. We have held meetings with the sanitation, roadways, Mandi Board and MC departments to discuss disease prevention. — Dr Tarsem Singh, District Epidemiologist
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City-born lad’s film on '84 riots wins award at int'l film fest
Jalandhar, June 12 Marwaha came back from Australia last year to kickstart his career as an actor/director and the success of his first film
Jal Waheguru Ji - released on Youtube earned him accolades both as an actor and director. The film is the story of a painter who came across the dark history of 1984 (Delhi riots) and expresses his anger, anguish and protest by drawing paintings since he could not speak. The film was shot in Chandigarh, Amritsar and Jalandhar. Talking to The Tribune from Melbourne (Australia), Virat said, "I was looking for a subject. The 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the theme that eventually developed seemed like the perfect artistic start." He says he had no loss, personally speaking, in the 1984 riots, the stories of his friends and colleagues moved him to the theme. "Some Sikh boys I met in Australia told me incidents which moved me. In general, people here still have a thing for 1984. Their intense stories had an impact on me. While the film was going to be a much stronger statement earlier, I toned it down so that no one gets hurt and stuck to the Delhi riots. The end result matched my artistic instincts," Virat said. Speaking about his foray into direction from being a business professional, he said, "I studied at Khalsa College in Jalandhar and then came to Australia to pursue business administration studies and ended up with a job as a bankruptcy officer in a multinational company. But three years into it, I knew I was earning much but the money was not making me happy. I had done theatre and acting earlier so I knew where my inclinations lay. I resigned and went to India to make a film." The crew for the film included just two people (Virat wrote, directed an acted in the film), a painter and a music director. His film released on Youtube in November 2012 and it got short listed for the Punjabi International Film Festival, Toronto. Out of the 20 short listed films competing for the award (some of them made by veteran Punjabi artists and directors), his made it to the top. Talking about his future endeavours, he says he will be working in a Hindi feature film soon (a Bollywood production). The script is ready. It is an action comedy and he has penned down the script himself and is planning to shoot it in Australia. He is currently shooting an English video film in Australia. |
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Stick to deadline for works in city, says Sukhbir
Amritsar, June 12 Fed up by the delays, the Deputy CM issued stern directions to the heads of various departments who attended the meeting. Among these projects Golden Temple Entrance Plaza is a vital as its construction has curtailed the movement of pilgrims who come from across the country. The project has jumped the deadline many a time. Sukhbir said the construction of the plaza at the main entrance of the Golden Temple must be put on fast track and the construction agency should be asked to stick to the timeline as no delay beyond this Diwali would be acceptable. It was informed in the meeting that certain projects like construction of the four-lane flyover at Kitchlu Chowk, popularly known as Court chowk, at the cost of Rs 18 crore, has also been delayed many a time. Earlier, a scarce supply of construction material and delay in payments resulted in the stalling of the work. The under-construction site has become a source of harassment to commuters who have to take long route to reach the spot. The multi-purpose sports stadium at Ranjit Avenue is still mired in its planning stage. It is learnt that Sukhbir has directed the Sports Secretary to review the plan to decide which sports disciplines are to be created. He has instructed to complete it by August this year. Earlier, the original plan was amended by incorporating the international-level cricket stadium. The multi-purpose sports stadium was inaugurated by Sukhbir Badal before the previous Assembly election. Beautification of Durgiana temple has been delayed by years and its cost has escalated by
crores.
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Villagers seek ASI’s suspension
Jalandhar, June 12 A resident of the village, Baljinder Singh, said he was having some property dispute with his neighbours, over which he had a clash with them. He said he as well as his neighbours had lodged cross complaints against each other at the Uggi police
post. The ASI, who inquired into the matter, got registered a case against him and beat up his wife Sukhwinder Kaur on May 11. The SP (D), Rural, Rajinder Singh, pacified the protesters and assured them of a proper investigation into the matter by the DSP, Nakodar.
— TNS |
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The liability of paying contractors stands only at Rs 35 crore. We will be able to pay the whole amount once we get Rs 60 crore HUDCO loan. We intend to spend the rest of the amount on projects, including Nehru Garden, purchase of land for a slaughter house in Basti Peer Daad and even pooling its share in the Rajiv Awas Yojna.~ 
I hope that the financial crunch will soon be over. We have expedited our recoveries. We have a meeting with the Deputy CM on July 1 and 2 wherein we intend to take proposals for our new projects, including six-laning of road from PAP Chowk to BSF Chowk, Chandan Nagar RUB and Kapurthala Chowk flyover. I hope to get funds from various
sources. 
It is a sorry state of affairs at the MC. There are no funds for making payments to contractors. There has been no development at all. The only projects that have been on are those with funding from the Centre. The in-house petrol pump has been shut down. Lately, even the private pump owner has refused supply to MC
vehicles. 
