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Cleaning of Kala Sanghian drain starts
Illegal plying of tractor-trailers on roads goes unabated
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Two residents ‘wed’ foreign nationals every month in city
MC fails to redress public grievances
Students of St Soldier Polytechnic College develop mechanical dinosaur
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Cleaning of Kala Sanghian drain starts
Jalandhar, June 28 Senior officials of the Drainage Department said they had given the work to clean the drain to the Municipal Corporation (MC) and the Drainage Department would pay the charges to it. As per information, the work to take out water hyacinth, silt, etc, from the Kala Sanghian drain was started on the drain stretch passing from Maqsudan. It may be mentioned here that the Kala Sanghian drain is polluted on account of the discharge of sewage waste of the Jalandhar city. Environmentalist and member of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) Balbir Singh Seechewal has time and again demanded that the drain should be cleaned properly and the discharge of the sewage waste in the drain should be stopped. Taking cognisance of the problem, in May this year, Jalandhar Divisional Commissioner SR Ladhar had convened a meeting of officials of the various government departments and instructed them to ensure all steps to keep the Kala Sanghian drain pollution-free.
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Illegal plying of tractor-trailers on roads goes unabated
Jalandhar, June 28 A day after this tragic incident, The Tribune team, during its visit to various parts of the city today, found that tractor-trailers were openly used for commercial purposes, despite ban. Working at a call centre near Kapurthala Chowk, Amit was the sole breadwinner of his family as his father Pyara Sidhu had also died in a road accident a few years ago. His mother Kamlesh Rani was inconsolable at her residence, located in MGI flats, Urban, Estate Phase I. While an FIR has been registered against the absconding driver and tractor-trailer impounded, but the question is that will it serve any purpose for Amit's family as Amit died due to the negligence of authorities concerned in the prime of his life. The Thursday mishap, which claimed young Amit's life, was not an isolated incident. Fatal accidents due to the illegal plying of tractor-trailers for commercial purposes are occurring every now and then. A student, Anmol (17), and her cousin Saksham (12) also lost their lives in similar manner after they had been crushed by an illegally plying tractor-trailer near the Sodal level crossing on March 1. Similarly, Senior Deputy Mayor Kamaljit Singh Bhatia's only son Charanpreet Singh Bhatia, alias Channi, became the victim of one such illegally plying tractor-trailer loaded with sand in the Avtar Nagar area a few months ago. Despite these mishaps, The Tribune team saw a number of tractor-trailers loaded with sand, soil, gravel and other material plying illegally in busy areas, including Guru Nanak Mission Chowk, BMC Chowk, Nakodar Road, Central Town, BMC Chowk, Model Town, Namdev Chowk, from PAP Chowk to Maqsoodan on National Highway No 1, Sodal Road, Devi Talab Mandir Road and Domoria Pull road. These tractor-trailers continue to move on roads carrying all sorts of goods despite the ruling of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The court ordered over a decade ago that the tractor-trailers could not be used for commercial purposes and their use would be restricted to agricultural purposes only. A Division Bench of the high court, headed by Justice RS Mongia and comprising Justice KC Gupta, in its order in November, 2000, while disposing of a petition of the Mazda Mini-Truck Operators Society, in this regard, had observed, "We are quite hopeful that the authorities concerned would see to it that the tractor-trailers are not used for commercial purposes in violation of law and such persons who had violated the law would be dealt with in accordance with the law." They further added, "It will be appreciated if more vigil is kept on such violations by the drivers of tractor-trailers for commercial purposes. It will be further appreciated if the authorities concerned monitor this aspect and review the situation every month." While no exact figure about the accidents caused by tractor-trailers is available, rough estimates by traffic police officials indicate that over half of the total accidents are caused by them. The official listed several reasons. Most of these tractor-trailers are driven primarily by people who do not possess driving licences. The tractor-trailers neither have indicators nor reflectors, which makes it difficult for the drivers of vehicles coming from behind to see them during night. Moreover, due to the more noise, the drivers of tractor-trailers seldom hear the horns of the vehicles coming from behind. While neither DTO Dalwinderjit Singh, nor ADCP (Headquarters) Navjot Mahal could be contacted despite repeated attempts, a Transport Department official said, "Tractor-trailers are registered with the Transport Department for using them only for agricultural purposes. If any person wants to use a tractor-trailer for commercial purpose, he is required to get a permit for the same. Special modifications, including installation of hydraulic brake system, are done before the issuance of the permit by the Motor Vehicle Inspector (MVI) for its use for commercial purposes. Usually, no tractor-trailer owner applies for getting permit for using it for commercial purposes as its fee is very high." Meanwhile, demanding strict action to check illegal plying of tractor-trailers on roads, Senior Deputy Mayor Kamaljit Singh Bhatia said, "They have become killers on wheels for many. I lost my only son because of that. Using tractor-trailers for commercial purposes should be treated as a crime as a number of families have been ruined due to such illegally plying vehicles. If required, amendments should be made to existing law for making the use of tractor-trailers for commercial purposes a crime so that no other family loses its child as mere registering a criminal case after the mishap is not adequate. I have already raised the issue in the MC House several times. The authorities did not take strict action against them due to pressure by some politicians. Politicians should refrain from putting pressure on the authorities for such things, which might prove fatal to them too anytime." |
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Two residents ‘wed’ foreign nationals every month in city
Jalandhar, June 28 There could be more cases of such weddings, but this is the number wherein the couples have got themselves registered under the Special Marriage Act with the district administration. Till mid-June, there have been 13 marriages registered through ADC (G) under the Act. There were 25 marriages registered last year, 27 in 2011 and 25 in 2010. Though the procedure, including issuing of a public notice, is month-long and cumbersome, most residents getting married to foreign nationals prefer going in for this registration as some countries consider only marriages registered under the Special Marriage Act to be valid. The Act stipulates that the couple has to be present in the court of the ADC (G) to get the marriage registered, for which a month-long stay in India becomes a necessity. Davinder Singh, a resident of a locality near the railway station, has just got his marriage with Natalia of Australia registered. The couple said they met each other in Australia, decided to get married and now have got it registered in India. While Davinder Singh said he worked with a security company, Natalia was a bartender. Since most such marriages involve Indian man and a foreign national woman, most such cases are also considered to be contract marriages, which get broken once the Indian counterpart gets a foreign nationality. The ADC (G), Praneet Bhardwaj, said despite stringent rules, he was getting at least two-three queries on marriage almost every week. "I sometimes even interview the couple to cross-check their antecedents," he said.
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MC fails to redress public grievances
Jalandhar, June 28 On the fiscal front as well, the financial health of the JMC has deteriorated so much that the civic body is selling its properties to disburse the salary of the staff. What is more shocking is that instead of taking cognisance of the problem and initiate corrective measures, the municipal functionaries are not even addressing the complaints of the city residents. A re-look at the past two weeks brought to light that as Jalandhar received pre-monsoon showers, the hollow claims made by the MC officials were exposed. Many city areas and roads including Court Complex road, Ladowali Road, Domoria Pull, Nakodar Road, Gopal Nagar, Maqsudan, Guru Nanak Pura Road and Gujja Peer Road were inundated with several feet water.
Baljinder Singh, a shopkeeper on Court Road said: “We pay so many taxes but it is unfortunate that still MC can't even ensure a proper drainage system during monsoons.” Residents of many other areas expressed similar views. “Just a brief spell of rain and the city areas are flooded with water. Due to the poor drainage and faulty sewerage, water enters into houses. It is high time civic authorities should awake from the deep slumber and ensure that the choked sewerage is cleansed for the proper drainage of the water,” said Mukhtiar Kaur, a resident of Maqsudan. It may be mentioned that recently, several areas including Bhagat Singh Colony, Kishan Pura and Gopal Nagar were flooded with water after a breach in the Ganda Nullah (Wadala Drain). Apart from the drainage system, the condition of the roads in the city is also in bad. It is hell like condition for commuters plying on the Guru Nanak Pura Road. Big potholes at every inch of this road can be spotted. In other words, commuting on this particular road is not less than a camel’s ride. “What to talk about the re-carpetting of the roads, the MC is not even doing the patch work,” rued residents of Guru Nanak Pura Road. The inhabitants of the affected areas also regretted that top brass of the JMC, particularly Municipal Commissioner Vinay Bublani hardly conducted any field visits to take stock of the situation. Meanwhile, streetlights in several areas in the vicinity of the Bus Stand, Defence Colony, Adarsh Nagar, Ladowali Road and Police Lines Road are not operational due to which commuters have to face tough time during night hours. “We have brought the matter to the notice of the civic authorities but of no avail,” said Jasdeep Singh, who owns a shop near Bus Stand. However, independent inquiries made by the TNS brought to light that the streetlight contractors were not able to purchase material for the repair of the faulty streetlights as the civic body had not cleared their bills. The problem of dumping of garbage in many areas of the city is also acquiring alarming proportions with garbage lying in every nook and corner of city. A perusal of the accounts of the Jalandhar MC brought to light that during the past couple of years, the financial health of the civic body has deteriorated. It is learnt that presently, the JMC is so cash-starved that properties owned by civic body are being sold off to pay the salaries of the staff. The severe cash crunch has led to discontinuance of some of the development projects in the city. Officials Speak The present SAD-BJP house had miserably failed to provide basic facilities to the inhabitants of the 60 municipal wards. Rampant corruption is prevalent in the civic body and the officials are not paying any attention towards the problems being faced by the commoners. Even for the bad fiscal health of the corporation, those at the helm of affair are responsible. The Congress councillors will raise all public-related issues in the next general house meeting of the corporation. In case, the civic body fails to take necessary action, we will not hesitate to launch an
agitation. It would be wrong to conclude that JMC is not paying attention towards the issues raised by masses. Because of the monsoon season, we are not able to re-carpet the roads. As far as the problem of water-logging is concerned whenever it rains heavily, water will accumulate but the positive side is that the water drains out very soon. We have purchased the properties when the fiscal health of civic body was sound. Now, if there is some fiscal problem, the MC has every right to sell the properties~
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Students of St Soldier Polytechnic College develop mechanical dinosaur
Jalandhar, June 28 Every piece of work which went in to making of this project was made by students of the Department of Mechanical Engineering (sixth semester), St Soldier Polytechnic College. Students were guided by head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering Armandeep Singh and senior lecturer Munish Kumar. While Manmeet Sagoo, Jotpreet Singh, Gagandeep Singh, Gagandeep Kaler, Sucha Singh, Karanvir Singh, Navjot Kohli, Nitish Bhatia, Jasdeep Singh and Baljeet Kaler, all students from the Department of Mechanical Engineering (sixth semester), were involved in the project. The idea of making “technosaurus” was of SPS Matiana, director, St Soldier Polytechnic College. He said: “The main concern behind his idea was to encourage the students to think outside the box. While the students of other polytechnics always think of making automobile projects and various other mechanical models but this time the students of our institute have taken a different approach.” The main characteristic of this project is that it gives four outputs, which include jaw movement, arms movement, head movement and grizzling in high intensity by using only one input given to the electric motor. Matiana said: “The gearbox and a differential are responsible for controlled movements through a number of mechanisms. This project uses several mechanisms, which make it possible to give several outputs using a single input.” The “technosaurus” is an all-weather wild machine, whose body has been tested for water resistance, thermal resistance and shock resistance, he added. “The body is made up of high quality fiber on wireframe constructed underneath. The wireframe is made up of high quality corrosion resistant material. This “technosaurus” can withstand any kind of weather and is expected to fulfil its purpose for the next 25 years,” added Matiana.
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Jalandhar, June 28
