Jalandhar, July 31
Contrary to the claims of the Punjab Power Corporation (PSPCL), the city is witnessing power cuts that last for hours together.

Reports from various localities of the city suggest that the power corporation is imposing four to six hours power cuts in the domestic sector.

Residents of many areas complained that there was no power for about six hours last night.

Even as the power situation has not been good for over a month now, the duration of power cuts has increased drastically in the past few days.

The availability of power with PSPCL on Tuesday was 524 lakh units from thermal generation, 200 lakh units from hydro generation, 202 lakh units from BBMB, 600 lakh units from Central sector, 463 lakh units from banking and 37 lakh units from open access system.

Thus the total power available with the PSPCL was 2,026 lakh units on Tuesday whereas the daily demand for power is 2,200 lakh units. It is because of about 174 lakh unit deficit that the PSPCL is imposing power cuts.

The areas that witnessed prolonged power cuts here are Model Town, Green Model Town, Guru Nanak Pura, Chhoti Baradari, Indra Park, Ladowali Road, Preet Nagar and Adarsh Nagar.

“There was no power in our area the whole night,” said Satnam Kaur, a resident of Guru Nanak Pura. Expressing their resentment over this, residents of Green Model Town said it was a matter of concern that despite tall claims of making Punjab a power surplus state, the government was not able to even meet the basic power requirement of the domestic sector.

Residents of various localities in the city said they were forced to spend sleepless nights due to the power cuts.

Representatives of the Jalandhar Chamber of Industries and Commerce expressed displeasure over the imposition of weekly-off on the industry by the PSPCL. General secretary, Jalandhar Chamber of Industries and Commerce, Charanjit Singh Maingi said because of such regulatory measures, the industry was suffering huge monetary losses.

“Because of the three-day weekly-off for the general industry and four-day weekly off on arc/induction furnace, the payment being made by the industries to labourers is a direct monetary loss to them,” haranjit Singh Maingi said.

“The industry is already facing a slump. The production has come to an all-time low due to these power cuts which has further deteriorated the scenario. A step-motherly treatment is being meted out to the industry by the PSPCL," Maingi claimed.

Some industrialists said the cost of power available to the industry through open access (from open market) is about Rs 16 per unit which is too costly and unaffordable.

Jalandhar, July 31
An elderly woman was robbed off her earrings after she was attacked with iron rod in Vasant Vihar Colony here this morning. Reports said the accused entered the victim’s house and hit her on the head with an iron rod.

The victim, Satya Devi Goggian (70), whose son is reportedly serving as Inspector General (IG) with the Delhi Police, got badly wounded and was taken to the local Civil Hospital from where she was shifted to Apex Hospital. She was later referred to the Satyam Hospital.

The police is yet to register a case as the victim was not in a condition to give her statement.

Additional Commissioner of Police (ACP), Model Town, Sarabjit Singh said he visited the victim at the hospital late evening but the doctors did not declare her fit for any statement.

"She is conscious and talking," the Additional Commissioner of Police said.

The Division Number 7 police said a maid working in the house was an eyewitness to the entire episode.

“She (the housemaid) told us that a man came on a bicycle when she was sweeping floor in the morning. After she went inside, the accused entered the house and committed the crime. The moment she raised an alarm, he managed to flee," said Division Number 7 station house officer (SHO). He said the man had been visiting the house often on various pretexts. Earlier, he had come for generator repair also but the elderly woman failed to take note of the matter.

Jalandhar, July 31
The martyrdom day of Shaheed Udham Singh was observed in Jalandhar today by various bodies as well as political outfits. While in some of the events, the contribution of the martyr to the Indian freedom struggle was remembered, at others, youth was exhorted to follow on the footsteps of legends like him, if they wanted to see the country free from corruption.

The Shaheed Ajit Singh Naujawan Society observed the martyrdom day at Government Elementary School, Nandpur. School students presented patriotic songs and poetry on the occasion. Society head, Deepak Mohendru said one should never forget those who laid down lives for the country because their memories evoke a sense of responsibility among the current generation.

In the beginning of the ceremony floral tributes were made to the portrait of the martyr, vice president Varun Chaddha, joint secretary Davinder, media secretary Lakhan Pal among others were present on the occasion. The Congress party observed the day by paying floral tributes to the statue of the martyr.

Headed by District Congress President Aruna Walia, Congress workers garlanded the statue of Udham Singh and commemorated him. National Martyrs’ Memorial Committee Jalandhar also observed Martyrdom Day of Shaheed Udham Singh at Shaheed Udham Singh Park here today.Members paid floral tributes to the martyr at his statue.The programme commenced with Vande Mataram presented by students of BD Arya Girls College Jalandhar. S Parduman Singh Thukral, President SUS Nagar Welfare Society, threw light on the life of the martyr. Rajat Sharma delivered a lecture on Shaheed Udham Singh. Lieutenant Colonel Manmohan Singh also spoke on the martyr.

Jalandhar, July 31
In the past eight-and-a-half months, as many as 5,211 challans were issued against auto-rickshaw drivers by the Jalandhar traffic police here.

The challaned auto-rickshaws include those plying schoolchildren and those ferrying commuters on different routes. There have been 13 various offences under which auto-rickshaw drivers have been challaned.

Starting from October 15 last year till now, the traffic police has nabbed as many as 793 drivers ferrying commuters without having a valid driving licence. As many as 483 auto-rickshaws have been challaned for not possessing registration certificates.

Nearly 518 challans have been issued against those driving without valid permits, 247 for not having pollution certificates and 294 for not having their vehicle insured.

Even more startling is the fact that 402 auto-rickshaw drivers have been found plying on the city roads without any of the five requisite documents.

Overloaded auto-rickshaws ferrying schoolchildren is a common sight on the city roads, thus putting little lives at risk. While an auto-rickshaw can ferry a maximum of four children, eight to 12 children riding to school is commonly seen here.

After two days of protest and no respite to their demands of excessive challaning against them, some auto-rickshaw drivers have started falling in the line.

These drivers have been committing some very serious offences as well, such as drunken driving with 155 challans, red light violation with 229 challans, risky driving with 40 challans and without number plate autos with 77 challans.

Additional Commissioner of Police (ACP-Traffic) Mohinder Singh said the drive against the erring auto-rickshaws would continue in future.

Jalandhar, July 31
As safai karamcharis go an indefinite strike starting tomorrow, the garbage collection system in the city would go for a toss.

The employees, who are protesting against the implementation of Solid Waste Management Project, have declared that they will neither lift the garbage nor sweep the roads till the project is rolled back. To tackle with the situation, Chief Parliamentary Secretary KD Bhandari, Mayor Sunil Jyoti, Senior Deputy Mayor Kamaljit Bhatia and Commissioner MC Vinay Bublani held a meeting with the members of the Safai Mazdoor Federation, Punjab, this evening despite it being a government holiday but to no avail.

The deadline given to the Jindal Group to get the project executed ended today and the company is scheduled to start lifting of door-to-door garbage from 18 of the 60 wards of the city in the next fortnight.

The city has been witness to the garbage disposal problem this season. The MC's main dumping site at Wariana village has got filled up and even the passage to it has gone marshy with truckloads of garbage unable to cross it.

There have been days when the MC employees have lifted the garbage, loaded the trucks and made them stand at the entrance of the office gates as a sign of protest. An effort by the officials to provide an alternate site at Suchi Pind has also gone futile. Municipal Joint Commissioner Anupam Kler said, "We have got some compaction of the garbage mounds done at the site as a temporary solution."

The biggest eyesore in the city is a dumping site in the posh Model Town along Niku Park where garbage piles reach out till the middle of the road. The site falls just a few metres away from the official residence of Mayor Sunil Jyoti. The site has big showrooms, the owners of which too are upset over the MC's lackadaisical attitude.

Adamant over the issue, union members led by president Chandan Grewal said the members were opposing the induction of 500 to 700 employees by the Jindal Group on contract basis.

"This system of appointment has already led to much exploitation of the staff in MC building, DC office, Civil Hospital and PIMS, where we have had to hold protests a number of times to help them get their dues," he said.

Jalandhar, July 31
Even as the Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner (DC) has issued strict instructions to the authorities concerned to ensure clean drinking water to all the schools where samples had failed, as many as 20 schools in the district with failed samples are yet to get any alternative clean drinking water facilities.

Reports from various schools across the district, in congested Panj Peer, Purian Mohalla etc as well as posh localities like Model Town and Adarsh Nagar, reveal that students in the said schools continue to drink water from the school taps, samples of which had already failed.

"Most of the year, we do not even get a decent water supply. But for some months, we have been getting it regularly. Students continue to drink water from old taps as no alternate supply has been made available nor has contamination in the existing supply been fixed," a teacher at a school said.

Municipal Commissioner Vinay Bublani said, "While we have no trouble providing alternate supplies to any of the schools, detailed checks have to be conducted at some of them to determine the exact cause of water contamination. We shall provide alternate water supply to schools soon. Our officials are already working on this and a detailed report regarding the issue shall be sent to the DC tomorrow. It shall be ensured that students get clean water."

Jalandhar, July 31
The State Information Commission has summoned the District Education Officer (DEO-Secondary) on Thursday over denial of RTI information to appellants and complainants.

The SIC has summoned the PIO of the District Education Officer (Secondary), Jalandhar, to appear before it on August 1 for denial of RTI information in two cases by the DEO office to an appellant who had sought it.

While in both the cases, in which information being sought was not provided pertain to denial of RTI information amidst allegations of one-sided inquiries conducted by Prem Kumar, principal, Government Senior Secondary School, Phillaur, and Deputy DEO (S) Harinder Pal Singh, in both instances DEO (S) is the Public Information Officer (PIO).

Jalandhar, July 31
If the cases registered with the women police station here are of an indication, there has been a spurt in matrimonial disputes in the city since the past three years.

A view of women police station in Jalandhar. Tribune photo: Sarabjit Singh

Ever since the police station catering to the specific need was established near Police Lines here on October 1, 2010, there has been a steady increase in the number of FIRs lodged by married women under various sections including 406 (Punishment for criminal breach of trust) and 498-A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty).

For the first three months in 2010, there were only 13 FIRs lodged. The number rose to 67 in year 2011, 80 in 2012 and is already 65 in the first seven months this year.

Inspector Parveen Kumari, SHO of women police station, said the number of complaints being filed by women have been increasing each month. “We are getting more than 100 complaints marked through Commissioner’s office to us, we are trying to dispose off at least 75 cases through compromise, holding a number of sittings with both the girls’ and the boys’ side and then arranging their settlement. We also have a panel of counsellors with us to convince the families which are sometimes rigid on their stand”, she said.

She adds, “All those cases where there have been evidences of women getting physically assaulted are not spared. We immediately get a medico-legal report done and get a case lodged. Only in few cases where men feel apologetic and we are convinced that he will not repeat the same act that we allow the complainant to withdraw the case”.

The women police station has been getting cases through the area police stations as well as calls received on 24x7 women helpline 1091 which has become quite active since the launch of women armed special protection squad (WASPS).

The women constables, who attend the helpline calls, said that there have been several incidents of women calling in distress. “For all such cases the calls are diverted to the concerned WASPS constables with information also passed onto the area SHO. A woman constable is definitely a part of the team visiting the site”, said ACP Control Room Ajayvir Singh.