Chandan Nagar RUB project gets derailed
Jalandhar, October 16
Having remained a poll plank for the candidates from the Jalandhar (North) Assembly segment, the project of the Chandan Nagar railway underbridge (RUB) has gone into limbo.

Commuters wait for a train to pass and gates to open at the busy Sodal rail crossing, where a railway underbridge is proposed to be constructed, in Jalandhar. A Tribune Photograph

Two die of ‘dengue’ in city areas
Jalandhar, October 16
Two deaths allegedly due to dengue were reported in the city in the last 24 hours. Though family members and relatives of the deceased alleged that the deaths were due to dengue, but Dr RL Bassan, Civil Surgeon denied it. Suffering from high fever, Kiran, a teenager from Bhago Camp, who was admitted to the Civil Hospital, died on Tuesday night.

32 food samples collected from sweet shops
Jalandhar, October 16
With the festive season in progress, the district health authorities raided many sweet shops in the city today. Acting on a tip-off, a team of health officials raided MS Petha House in Basti Peer Daad and collected samples of "petha" and other sweets being prepared in bulk.

District Health Department officials conduct a raid on a sweet shop at Basti Peer Daad and collect samples of food products in Jalandhar on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Malkiat Singh

Congress alleges discrimination in distribution of ex gratia grants
Jalandhar, October 16
Alleging discrimination in the distribution of ex gratia grants to the victims of various tragedies, particularly underprivileged Dalit victims of mini-truck accident near Hoshiarpur, Congress spokesperson Sukhpal Khaira said different yardsticks were being adopted by government depending on hype given in each case.

Communal harmony: A Muslim and a Sikh policeman hug each other on the occasion of Eid-ul-Zuha in Jalandhar on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Malkiat Singh

From schools & colleges
Pakistan women’s hockey team visits CT group
Jalandhar: The Pakistani women hockey team visited the CT Group of Institutions, Jalandhar. The team had come to participate in “Surjit Hockey Tournament”. Olympian Mohammed Usman, ex-captain of the Pakistan hockey team was the “Chief De Mission”. The team arrived with their manager Sonia Khan. Binesh Hayat, the first International woman umpire of Pakistan team and Atif Malik, International Pakistani umpire also accompanied the team of 30 members.

Science exhibitions to start from Oct 21
Jalandhar, October 16
Block to district level science exhibitions will be held across the district from October 21 to November 6 to encourage a better understanding of science among students.

Dearth of funds is no hurdle for this school
Lallian Khurd (Jalandhar), October 16
Lallian Khurd Government Middle School is a school with a difference as dearth of funds has never created any hurdle in its overall development. Thanks to the villagers and NRIs who keep on donating generously from time to time.

Discharge of untreated sewage into Wadala drain continues
Kapurthala, October 16
The Wadala drain here has become the latest victim of the government apathy as the discharge of the untreated sewage continues unabated in the drain. Perturbed about the state of affairs, renowned environmentalist Balbir Singh Seechewal has strongly condemned the district administration for not ensuring that only treated waste water is discharged in the drain.

The Wadala drain in Kapurthala. A Tribune photograph

Govt employees to hold rally
Jalandhar, October 16
The Punjab government employees in a large number attended the one-day convention organised by the Punjab Mulazam Sangharsh Committee, Punjab, at Desh Bhagat Yaadgaar Hall, here today. During the convention it was decided to stage protest demonstrations against the anti-employee policies of the Union as well as State government.

Obedient obeisance : A sea of devotees on the occasion of Eid-ul-Zuha; and (right) Muslims offer prayers on the occasion of Eid-ul-Zuha in Jalandhar on Wednesday. Tribune photos: Malkiat Singh

Medical camp inaugurated
Jalandhar, October 16
A check-up camp for women was inaugurated at New Ruby Hospital Pvt Ltd by Chaudhary Jagjit Singh (Former Minister of Civil Bodies). Patients were examined by Dr Harneet Kaur Grover. Patients were educated about the common causes of infertility such as tubal blockade, fibroid uterus, tuberculosis, etc. and about the cancer cervix and role of PAP smear in detecting it. Free bone density check-up, blood tests and ultrasound scanning were also done. — TNS

Chandan Nagar RUB project gets derailed
Deepkamal Kaur
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, October 16
Having remained a poll plank for the candidates from the Jalandhar (North) Assembly segment, the project of the Chandan Nagar railway underbridge (RUB) has gone into limbo.

Reason: The Municipal Corporation failed to deposit an amount of Rs 21 crore to be paid as compensation to the land owners around the site with the Land Acquisition Collector-cum-SDM I Iqbal Singh Sandhu in time. While the process of acquisition had been initiated on August 23, 2010, the Land Acquisition Collector was to announce the award within three years.

"I could not announce the award till the MC deposited funds for the same. Since the time period for the same has lapsed, the process of acquisition has to be started all over again," confirmed Sandhu. With the new acquisition law coming to force, the MC, which could not even pay Rs 21 crore, would now have to shell out almost double the award money.

The MC authorities had planned various ways to pay the amount by applying fora HUDCO loan or sale of properties or collection from the property tax, but none of these propositions could bring in success to the plan.

The residents of nearly 50 colonies, including Sodal area, Industrial Area, Preet Nagar, Dada Colony, Globe Colony and Shiv Nagar, which fall on the other side of the crossing had been hoping that their daily woes would end with the RUB coming in place. Their passage gets closed as many as 120 times a day owing to passage of trains between Jalandhar and Amritsar.

The students of Shiv Joti Public School, Seth Hukum Chand School and SD School, which fall on either side of the track, are also much affected. Quite a few accidents have taken place at the crossing in the recent past, especially around Sodal Mela during which there is much rush across the crossing site.

The project had earlier been shelved as MC officials had insisted that it be handed over to the PWD for execution of work. The land acquisition cost had initially been pegged at Rs 17 crore, which later got enhanced to Rs 21 crore.

Initial delay

Earlier it was the infighting in the BJP which led to some delays and then the consent from the owners of the buildings, from whom the land is to be acquired for the project, which took some time. The properties, which needed to be partly acquired, included a godown, jointly owned by three businessmen, and an office. Ever since this problem got sorted out, provision of funds has become a grave issue. Former Mayor Rakesh Rathour, whose house falls close by, started it off with much vigour, but could not get it accomplished. The project has been on the poll plank of MLA KD Bhandari as well as his Congress rival Avtar Henry.

Two die of ‘dengue’ in city areas
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, October 16
Two deaths allegedly due to dengue were reported in the city in the last 24 hours. Though family members and relatives of the deceased alleged that the deaths were due to dengue, but Dr RL Bassan, Civil Surgeon denied it. Suffering from high fever, Kiran, a teenager from Bhago Camp, who was admitted to the Civil Hospital, died on Tuesday night.

Family members of Kiran alleged that the hospital authorities failed to provide timely and required medicare to the patient and even they were pushed out of the blood bank where they had gone to get blood.

The hospital management, however, claimed that the girl was under observation and was listed in the category of suspected dengue patient. As her blood platelet count decreased, the family was asked to bring a donor having same blood group so that required platelets could be given to her.

In another case, a boy, resident of the Kamal Vihar locality, allegedly died of dengue last night.

Thought the family members were tight-lipped on the cause of his death, area residents revealed that there was commotion at the cremation ground that the boy was suffering from dengue and was undergoing treatment at a private hospital.

When contacted, Civil Surgeon Dr RL Bassan expressed his ignorance about the death of the boy, but said the girl was a suspected case of dengue. “It was not a confirmed case of dengue,” he claimed.

32 food samples collected from sweet shops
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, October 16
With the festive season in progress, the district health authorities raided many sweet shops in the city today. Acting on a tip-off, a team of health officials raided MS Petha House in Basti Peer Daad and collected samples of "petha" and other sweets being prepared in bulk.

Civil Surgeon Dr RL Bassan, District Health Officer Dr Balwinder Singh, District Food and Security Officer Harjot Singh of the Health Department were accompanied by some mediapersons.

Dr Balwinder Singh said the team took 32 samples of various eatables after conducting raids on some sweet shops in the city and destroyed spurious and substandard eatables.

Sources in the department revealed that there was information that the manufacturer had been using spurious and hard colours to prepare the eatables while the raw "petha" used was of substandard quality.

The owner of Petha House, Satnam Singh, had been procuring poor-quality raw material from Saharnpur and Agra in bulk and was catering to various markets in the region.

The samples were sent to a government laboratory for checking, revealed Harjot Singh.

Congress alleges discrimination in distribution of ex gratia grants
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, October 16
Alleging discrimination in the distribution of ex gratia grants to the victims of various tragedies, particularly underprivileged Dalit victims of mini-truck accident near Hoshiarpur, Congress spokesperson Sukhpal Khaira said different yardsticks were being adopted by government depending on hype given in each case.

To make his point and depict the sad plight of the families, Khaira came along with Jagir Singh, resident of Fatehpur village of Bholath, who had lost 11 members of his family, his injured son Harjit Singh, who had lost his wife Sukhwinder Kaur, and his granddaughter Jashanpreet Kaur, who had initially been admitted to Gandhi Vanita Ashram here (she has now been taken home). The family was returning from Chintpurni on October 9 night when the mini-truck they had been travelling in fell into a gorge.

Jagir Singh has as many as 12 persons of his family injured, a huge hospital bill to be reimbursed and is yet to receive any ex gratia amount of Rs 1 lakh announced by the state government.

Emphasising his point, Khaira cited two sensational cases that forced the SAD-BJP government to dole out huge amounts as ex gratia grants, besides repeated visits of Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister to the aggrieved families. "In case of Sarabjit Singh killed in a Pakistan jail, the government gave Rs 1 crore as aid to his family, apart from two government jobs to his kith and kin with the entire Cabinet attending his last rites. Similarly, the burning of a 12-year-old boy Vidhu Jain of Malerkotla and a media hype that ensued led the CM to announce Rs 15 lakh as ex gratia grant to his family and another Rs 10 lakh for erecting a memorial in his name."

He said, "In absolute contrast to this, 21 extremely poor Dalits lost their lives, but deaths weren't sensational enough to create high TRP ratings. The government announced merely Rs 1 lakh for the deceased and Rs 25,000 for those injured in the accident. But some of those seriously injured have incurred lakhs of rupees on their ongoing treatment at various private hospitals."

He said the Congress demanded that a minimum of Rs 5 lakh be given as ex gratia grant to the deceased, all medical expenses of the injured be borne by the government and one government job be provided to the family of the deceased.

"Our demands are justified as it is the primary responsibility of the state to ensure appropriate traffic conditions and prevent the loss of 5,000 precious lives in Punjab each year," he said.

"If the SAD-BJP government can afford to pay actors Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif Rs 2 crore for a few minutes of their performance in the Kabbadi World Cup, what prevents the government to pay Rs 5 lakh to these poor people?" he asked.

The kin of the injured, who came along at the press conference, levelled allegations of poor health care facilities at the Civil Hospital Hoshiarpur and money charged by the 108 Ambulance service.

From schools & colleges
Pakistan women’s hockey team visits CT group

Jalandhar: The Pakistani women hockey team visited the CT Group of Institutions, Jalandhar. The team had come to participate in “Surjit Hockey Tournament”. Olympian Mohammed Usman, ex-captain of the Pakistan hockey team was the “Chief De Mission”. The team arrived with their manager Sonia Khan. Binesh Hayat, the first International woman umpire of Pakistan team and Atif Malik, International Pakistani umpire also accompanied the team of 30 members. All players interacted with the students and faculty members. Assam Meer, captain of the team said her team felt very happy on visiting India. Binesh Hayat thanked CT Group for their hospitality. She said girls are more inclined towards hockey in Pakistan as compared to other games. Manbir Singh, Managing Director and Dr Manoj Kumar, Group Director of CT Group of Institutions presented mementos to the all team members.

Budding scientists

Karan Singh and Tejas Mohlah,class XI science students of the Aeejay School, Rama Mandi, bagged the second prize at the Inter-school Sahodaya Science Model- Making Competition organised by Swami Sant Dass Public School Phagwara. In all 40 schools participated in the competition.Both the students won silver medals. The topic for the competition was ‘Traffic and Transport Management System’. Principal Madhu Sharma congratulated the students and teachers.

Sports day

Group of State Public Schools organised third sports day at its Jalandhar Cantt campus. Young athletes from all the three schools of the group participated in the event. As many as 200 athletes from all three schools in 49 disciplines of both track and field participated on the occasion. State Public School bagged the overall trophy and Pardeep Singh (Jalandhar) was declared the best athlete. Paramjit Singh Bhnadal, SP, Jalandhar, was the chief guest. Jatinder Suri and Jatinder Angural were also present as special guests. Dr Narotam Singh, president and Dr Gagandeep Kaur, vice-president of the group and the principal of the State Public School Nakodar were also present.

Working model

Students of Innocent Hearts, Green Model Town, Jalandhar, bagged the third prize for a Working Model organised by the Sahodaya Independent School at Swami Sant Das School, Phagwara. Ankush Babbar, Nihil and Abhishek made the model on smart traffic light under the topic of energy conservation. The management congratulated the students.

Youth club meeting

Youth Club of PCM SD College for Women, in collaboration with ‘Pahal’ an NGO organised a meeting with Mandeep Singh ‘Manu’ or digital paintings. Despite the fact that he faced odd realities of life, due to his courage and will power, he has become a great digital artist of India.

Exam positions

Students of Bachelor of Design (BD) of Apeejay College of Fine Arts, Jalandhar, got top positions in the Guru Nanak Dev University examinations. The students of BD, semester II, bagged 3rd and 7th positions. The students of semester IV bagged the 1st, 2nd and 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th and 8th positions along with BD semester VI students who bagged the 1st, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th positions. Dr Sucharita, principal congratulated the students. — TNS

Science exhibitions to start from Oct 21
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, October 16
Block to district level science exhibitions will be held across the district from October 21 to November 6 to encourage a better understanding of science among students.

The primary subject chosen for student science exhibitions by the National Science Museum Kolkata is ‘Scientific and Mathematical Innovations’. These science fairs in the district will be held under the supervision of District Education Officer (Secondary) Neelam Kumari, organised by District Science Supervisor Baljinder Singh. Science co-ordinator and headmaster Government High School, Patara, Sanjiwan Singh Dadwal informed that the topic ‘Scientific and Mathematical Innovations’ will further be divided into sub- topics agriculture, energy, health, environment and resources.

Under these issues, models will be presented under the said topics for secondary (9th and 10th) and senior secondary schools. The judgement for the models of the elementary section will be done separately. The topics provided by the science exhibition the population cell of the State Science Education Organisation for the exhibition are use of intoxicants, population education and static development, adolescence education - growth and development, gender equality and woman empowerment. Under these, students from 6th to 10th standard will be participating in on the spot chart making, slogan writing, quiz and essay writing contests.

The exhibition for Phillaur will be held on October 21 at Government High School, Mehsamour, for Nakodar and Shahkot, the contests will be held on October 23 at Government High School, Beer Pind, the exhibition for Jalandhar - 1 (Adampur, Alawalpur, Bhogour blocks), will be held on October 24 at Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Bhogpur, for Jalandhar 2 on October 25 at Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Hazara, and the district-level exhibition will be held on November 6 and 7 at Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Jandiala, where an extempore debate contest will also be held among teachers.

Dearth of funds is no hurdle for this school
Dharmendra Joshi
Tribune News Service

An outer view of Lallian Khurd Government Middle School in Jalandhar district; and (right) principal Kanwaljeet Kaur teaches students at the school. Photos by the writer

Lallian Khurd (Jalandhar), October 16
Lallian Khurd Government Middle School is a school with a difference as dearth of funds has never created any hurdle in its overall development. Thanks to the villagers and NRIs who keep on donating generously from time to time.

As a result, this school has proper infrastructure with a beautiful and attractive building with separate toilets for boys and girls.The school is also equipped with a proper science laboratory, set up.

The school has infrastructure which is no less than many private schools.

However, this school was no different from other government schools till 1997 when Kanwaljeet Kaur (now principal) joined here.

At that time, only the primary school was existing and classes were conducted in the open due to lack of proper building.

Instead of waiting for the government funds, Kanwaljeet Kaur organised a meeting of the villagers and encouraged them to donate and the villagers gradually started donating for the school.

As a result 12 rooms have been constructed. Three rooms were constructed in 1998. Later the school was upgraded to the middle level and other nine rooms were constructed in 2004.

As many as 196 students including 127 in primary and 69 in middle are availing the benefit of proper infrastructure and science lab.

The school principal, Kanwaljeet Kaur, said “Government has also provided six computers with Wi-Fi connection .”

The school is also providing mid-day meal to the students.The school has also almost required number of teachers. Currently four teachers are teaching primary classes and permanent teachers are also available for middle classes.

Besides, a teacher also visits the school thrice a week having additional appointment at nearby Rampur School and a computer teacher also takes the classes two days a week.

Discharge of untreated sewage into Wadala drain continues
Tribune News Service

Kapurthala, October 16
The Wadala drain here has become the latest victim of the government apathy as the discharge of the untreated sewage continues unabated in the drain. Perturbed about the state of affairs, renowned environmentalist Balbir Singh Seechewal has strongly condemned the district administration for not ensuring that only treated waste water is discharged in the drain.

Speaking to The Tribune, Seechewal said a sewerage treatment plant (STP) had been set up in Kapurthala, which was now proving to be a white elephant. He claimed that the STP was not functional and untreated sewage waste was being dumped in the Wadala drain that passed through a considerable stretch in Kapurthala. Seechewal had also raised the issue in the meeting of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) held sometime back.

Seechewal said, “I have brought the matter to the notice of PPCB Chairman Ravinder Singh and member secretary of the board Dr Babu Ram.” Seechewal said he would now take up the matter with the Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. “It is really surprising that why the treatment plant in Kapurthala is not operational,” he said.

Meanwhile, when contacted, Senior Environmental Engineer, PPCB, SP Garg said the sewerage treatment plant at Kapurthala was functional, but not achieving the desired results. “The Executive Officer and president of the Kapurthala MC have already been prosecuted for not been able to ensure that the STP operated properly and achieve desired standards,” he informed.

Govt employees to hold rally
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, October 16
The Punjab government employees in a large number attended the one-day convention organised by the Punjab Mulazam Sangharsh Committee, Punjab, at Desh Bhagat Yaadgaar Hall, here today. During the convention it was decided to stage protest demonstrations against the anti-employee policies of the Union as well as State government.

Addressing the convention, committee convenor Ved Parkash said in the first phase, the committee would hold a state -level rally in Chandigarh on October 29 - when the Punjab Assembly session would be in progress. “The political heads of the ruling SAD-BJP combine are looting the treasury and the policies are being framed to benefit the corporate houses. The employees are at the receiving end just because of the anti-employee stand of the state government”, said committee convenor Bhupinder Singh Warraich. He said ban on the recruitment since year 2002 was extremely unfortunate and the policy of outsourcing is against the interests of the employees. The speakers demanded the scrapping of the outsourcing system without any delay. “The state government should introduce the cashless health scheme and child education allowance as was recommended by the fifth Punjab Pay Commission. Besides, the demands of regularisation of the services of daily wagers and contractual staff and lifting the ban on the recruitment should be accepted”, said committee convenor Ranbir Dhillon.