The proposed new building of the civic body

Officials get rebuke

• The Deputy CM rebuked the officials of the Improvement Trust and the civic body for laying their own parallel sewerage lines along the spot where sewerage line was already being laid under JAICA project, thus wasting crore of rupees
• Sukhbir found overlapping of functions of the Municipal Corporation, Improvement Trust and Development Authority
• While reviewing various ongoing projects, he asked for a centralised control room for operation and maintenance of all tubewells as per the pattern being adopted by the Chandigarh MC

New MC complex at Ranjit Avenue

• The proposed new complex of the MC office at Ranjit Avenue is a multi-storey complex having 10,000 square metre cover area
• The ground floor will house councillors' room and offices of the Mayor, Municipal Town Planning, MC Commissioner, Assistant Commissioner, Additional Commissioner, Senior Deputy Mayor, Deputy Mayor among others
• The third floor will house agenda branch, library, dispensary and canteen and there will be state-of-the-art facilities

Amritsar, June 14
Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today reviewed the progress of the construction of Rs 78 crore Golden Temple Entrance Plaza project and asked the authorities to ensure its completion by Diwali this year.

After reviewing the work on the project, Sukhbir said the work was on full swing. "Within few months, finishing touches will be given to the project. This unique project will prove a boon for thousands of tourists visiting the shrine daily from across the world as it would have audio-video information system, depicting the history and rich heritage of Sikhs, besides world class auditoriums."

Asking the construction agency and planners to realign the façade of the project with the intrinsic theme of the Golden Temple architecture, he said the plaza should add to the beauty and the splendour of the place. He also went

around the roads leading from Hall Bazaar to Golden Temple. It was decided that the fronts of all shops and houses located on this road should also be realigned to give the whole street a new look. Focusing on providing world class facilities to the pilgrims, Sukhbir said the opening lobby of the plaza should have pilgrims' facilitation centre, Internet café, railway and air ticket booking counters, a Punjab Tourism kiosk, a medical, healthcare and first-aid counter to provide emergency medical care to the devotees, besides a counter to provide free religious literature.

He said the focus of the plaza would be the pilgrims' convenience while maintaining the religious sanctity of the Golden Temple.

A separate meeting was also called to give final touches to the interior artwork of the basement. Directing the department concerned to finalise the agency for carrying out artwork in the basement of the plaza, the Deputy CM said the artwork in the basement should be in line with the heritage complex and murals on the wall should portray ancient Sikh history. He said he was looking forward to this project to associate the younger generation with the Sikh Panth by organising audio-visual show on Sikh history in the plaza basement. Asking to use the best available marble for the construction of the plaza, he constituted two teams to scout for best marble in Makrana and surrounding areas.

Earlier, PS Aujla, PWD Secretary, gave a presentation on the project and it was decided to hire landscape experts to decide about greening of the plaza.

Amritsar, June 14
Even as the ambitious plan to install pillar boxes containing bulk domestic power meters to curb power pilferage was started many years ago in the city, resistance from certain quarters and scarcity of adequate space are posing a challenge to complete the ambitious project.

The employees of the Power Corporation have been facing challenge in installing the pillar boxes. They say residents in various localities are resisting shifting the meters.

Many localities, including unplanned ones, do not have adequate open space to install the pillar boxes without posing obstruction to traffic and mobility of people.

As per the data available with the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), its City Circle office which has its jurisdiction over the walled city and around shifted 1,34,311 lakh meters out of residences and installed pillar boxes there.

While 71,000 meters are yet be shifted to private premises, the rest of the area in the city is categorised as sub-urban where only 35,000 meters were shifted out of individual premises.

With a view to minimising losses owing to power pilferage, the state government adopted the ambitious project about five years ago.

Chief Engineer (Border Range) Sudeep Singh Sandhu said strict measures like disciplinary action against the erring employees, setting up of anti-power theft police stations, adoption of electronic meters, remote control of transformers, remote meter reading and HVDS system for industries were introduced.

He said all these measures helped in reducing losses every year which results in substantial increase in revenue.

These pillar boxes containing bulk domestic power meters are also being put up in various government and private localities. Each pillar box contains 15 to 20 meters and its lock can be opened by meter inspectors or senior PSEB officials only.

PSEB officials said the pillar boxes also covered government offices and residential localities, including the Punjab police and the CRPF. He claimed the pillar boxes were foolproof and no consumer could tamper with the meters.

Besides, overhead electricity wires and bare conductors had also been removed in various parts of the city with a view to preventing the consumers from using kundi connections.

Amritsar, June 14
The city police has booked three persons, including two women, on charges of kidnapping and raping a teenaged girl in Sultanwind area.

The victim, a resident of Khuh Koria, said her maid Deepika called her on some pretext at Chaurasti Attari and took her to the house of Ajil Lal, who reportedly runs a dera in Sultanwind area.

Ajit Lal's son Sumeet Kumar, the main accused, allegedly offered her a cold drink laced with some intoxicants and she fell unconscious.

The accused, she alleged, took her to the residence of another accused Manjit Kaur where Sumeet raped her the whole night. She told the police that when she gained consciousness in the morning, she narrated the instance to Deepika who told her to remain silent.

The police have registered a case under Section 366, 366-A, 376, 506 and 120-B of the IPC at Kotwali police station.

Baldev Singh, officiating in charge of Kotwali police said Deepika and Sumeet Kumar had been arrested following the complaint while Manjit Kaur was still at large. He said efforts are on to nab her.

This is the second case of rape in the past couple of days. Earlier, the police had booked the son of a cop for allegedly raping a minor girl.

Amritsar, June 14
Unhygienic conditions prevailing at the old sabzi mandi area are not only posing a grave threat to the health of residents and pilgrims visiting the holy city, but also providing a haven to drug addicts and anti-social elements.

The old vegetable market, worth hundreds of crores, which is located outside the Hall Gate, has been abandoned for the past four years. Harjit Singh, a resident of Ram Bagh area, said it was strange that the government did not seem to have taken any cognisance of the area after evacuating wholesale merchants of fruit and vegetables from the place in 2004 and later in 2009. He said many cases of robbery were occuring in various parts of the city and the place could offer those críminals a safe refuge to perform anti-social activities. He said it was a wastage of public exchequer. Besides, the abandoned land attract suspected individuals and drug addicts who could be spotted roaming around the area. Residents and shopkeepers from nearby areas said it seemed that the authorities were waiting for an outbreak of diseases. The idle market land has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes, posing a threat to the health of residents and shopkeepers of nearby areas.

A little shower worsens the situation. Land here turns marshy and serves as an open invitation to mosquitoes, flies, dogs and other animals. Heaps of garbage can be found in the market. Apparently, it indicates that the authorities have failed to take a stock of the situation after the land was acquired from the fruit and vegetable wholesale vendors.

Amritsar, June 14
When not heading out for a vacation or planning on any summer project, the city children are enjoying a date with Khalid Housaini, Anita Desai, Jefferey Archer, Jhumpa Lahiri, Nafisa Haji and Stephen King. Falling for the titillation these names bring for their literary sensibilities, city children are picking up some of the best reads without a blink of unfamiliarity and relating to them as well.

Their summer romance with books is blossoming with every read, the several reading clubs have children from the age group of 5 to 15 years reading and reviewing the bestsellers. Brimming with activity, these book clubs have become the breeding ground for imagination. Discussing latest reads, authors, bestsellers and even downloading video interviews, excerpts and leading the discussions, children have taken up literature in their own hands this summer.

Manraj Singh (14) has picked up 'The Kite Runner' and the characters have already developed in his mind. "I got hooked up to reading for long now. I am mostly into fiction, sci fi and fantasy genres like the Lord Of the Rings. It keeps me hooked and triggers my imagination where I can relate to the characters," he says.

Siddhant Arora (14), who has hit some realisations while reading The Story of India, loves to read because that's what he has been doing since his senses developed. "My mother pushed me into making friends with books and I guess I have struck a good bond here." Mostly choosing his books wisely, with only his best interests in mind, Siddhant feels that reading should not be platonic, "I read so I can explore the world inside a book through my imagination. When I read, each characters, story and sequence is visualised and I am involved in an absolute sense," he shares.

If the teens are already deep down into the world of facts and fiction, the beginners are doing good as well. Going by the reading programmes at One Up library, the five-and-a-half-year olds are as actively reading as the 15-year-olds. "We have this once a year program in summer where children pick up books to read and review. This time we have children reading upto 20 books in seven days, writing their own reviews, defining characters and even discussing oral summaries of the books. It a part of life training exercise as well as inculcating healthy reading habits," shares Ridhi Sachdeva from One Up.