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Fire NOC of Civil Hospital cancelled
Administration grants Rs
12.5 lakh to traffic dept
Slum dwellers air their grievances
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Rehriwallahs mar traders’ business
Education Dept fails to recover house rent claimed by school principal
Sambar strays into Phagwara Industrial Area
From schools and collages
Man robbed of cash
Swindlers continue to trap gullible bank account holders on phone
Factory employee looted in city
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Fire NOC of Civil Hospital cancelled
Jalandhar, February 1 Despite repeated reminders by the MC, the hospital authorities have not done anything about it. This has put the lives of around 2,000 persons, who visit the hospital daily, in danger. Shockingly, the fire extinguishers installed on the hospital premises have also been found to be outdated. "This is a gross violation of fire-safety norms on part of the hospital authorities. This is a very serious issue, as the lives of many people, including patients admitted to the hospital, are in danger. We have cancelled the fire NOC of the hospital as the system installed there is totally defunct. Despite repeated notices, nothing has been done so far. Unfortunately, we can only send them reminders as we do not have any authority to impose fine," said Kashmir Singh, District Fire officer, Jalandhar. A visit to the hospital premises revealed that the sprinkler system of the basement housing all three medical stores was not working. A huge pile of empty cartons of medicine stocks was found scattered in the basement. Most of the brass couplings used to fix the water pipe to the hydrant during a fire exigency were found to be missing on various floors. The glasses of the fire hose cabinets installed on the ground floor near the Emergency Ward and the Maternity Ward were broken and the equipment was found missing from them. Most importantly, the hospital has a huge water reservoir, but it was not found connected to the hydrant system. Dr Jagjeet Singh Cheema, Medical Superintendent, Civil Hospital, confirmed the malfunctioning of the fire hydrant system and said that the issue had been taken up with the higher authorities at Punjab Health System Corporation (PHSC). "We are aware of the problem but it will take some time to get the system working. The hydrant system was installed during the construction of the new hospital building in 2001. We are waiting for the approval to get the new system installed," said Cheema. According to Manish Kumar, a fire expert in Mumbai, hospitals are most prone to fire exigencies since they use various mechanical equipment and electrical services in their day-to-day functioning. Many flammable chemicals and highly combustible anaesthetic liquids and equipment like incinerators and defective gas pipes are easily prone to fire outbreak. He said the hospitals should be equipped with smoke detection alarm, heat actuated alarm, automatic water sprinkler and fire extinguisher and internal fire safety system. |
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Administration grants Rs
12.5 lakh to traffic dept
Jalandhar, February 1 "We have received funds from the Government of India under the modernisation plan 2013-14. An amount of Rs 12.5 lakh has been given to the traffic department to upgrade its infrastructure. This will help it regulate the city traffic to some extent," said Rahul S. Deputy Commissioner of Police, Jalandhar. He also said that the money would be utilised to buy around 300 odd equipment along with three alcoholmeters, 28 clamps and 200 cones. The administration had also received a movable speed detector/interceptor vehicle worth Rs 10.5 lakh from the Central government, but it, surprisingly, returned it due to undisclosed reasons. Sources have opined that due to narrow and congested city roads, the vehicle might not have been of much use here. Jalandhar Tribune, in a recent report, had highlighted that the traffic department could not check the over-speeding of vehicles, as it did not have a single speedometer. For a population of 8.75 lakh, it had only two alcoholmeters. The city recorded a rise in accidents last month. Three accidents took place on three consecutive days from January 7. Presently, six black spots or the most accident-prone areas were identified by the traffic department in the city. These include the Rama Mandi intersection, Dakoha level crossing, Chogitti intersection, Transport Nagar and Y section of Bhagat Singh Colony and various places on the GT Road passing through the city. In 2012, 86 people had died in 85 accidents. In 2013, the number reduced to 65 in 64 accidents. The traffic police earned Rs 4.63 crore from 3.33 lakh challans in 2013.
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Slum dwellers air their grievances
Jalandhar, February 1 The residents also explained their problems to Bagha. An elderly woman, Parkasho, said she was forced to spend nights at her neighbour’s house for the past six years as she did not get instalments to build her house. The people in the locality have been forced to sleep in half-built, roofless houses as they failed to get timely instalments to build their house under the Centre-sponsored Integrated Slum House Development Scheme (ISHDS). Under the scheme, the payment of grant was to be made in four instalments and repayment was to be made only after the completion of work at the each stage. There was also a mild argument between former councillor Gurmeet Chand and JMC officials when Rajesh Bagha asked the MC officials about the reason behind the non-payment of instalments. Gurmeet alleged that the JMC had always opted a lackadaisical approach towards the issues concerning the Kot Ram Das locality. There were 392 people in the area who were supposed to get benefit of the housing scheme. ‘‘I left no stone unturned to solve their problems," he added. Assistant Commissioner (Technical) Chaman Lal blamed the residents for not producing the necessary documents to get the instalments. Joint Commissioner Anupam Kler assured that JMC officials would visit the locality on Wednesday to listen to their problems. She asked the people to keep their documents ready by Wednesday. Notably, 25 persons who have already prepared the necessary documents will be provided dues within a week.
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Rehriwallahs mar traders’ business
Jalandhar, February 1 Rajiv Jain of Kesri eatery said they had taken up the matter with the authorities concerned several times but no action was taken in this regard. The area between Jyoti Chowk to PNB Chowk has been encroached upon by these wheel cart vendors. ‘‘Customers cannot visit our shops as they don’t have enough space to park their vehicles," he added. ‘‘It seems these vendors are working in connivance with some MC employees. Apart from this, such rehri vendors sell unhygienic food, yet no one bothers to initiate any action against them," he alleged. Rajiv said,’’ whenever the MC decides to take action, these rehriwalas get the information and don’t encroach upon the space for that day. It seems they bribe some of the MC officials to get the information.’’ Another shopkeeper Sunil Gupta of Kala Niketan said it was an absolute harassment for shopkeeper as they were losing their customers. ‘‘Red Cross Market was removed by the JMC to sort out the traffic problem but it has been occupied illegally again." Joint Commissioner of the MC Anupam Kler said,’’ we do take action from time to time. As of now, we are planning to move rehris to a permanent place as we are facing the similar problem in many areas of the city."
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Education Dept fails to recover house rent claimed by school principal
Jalandhar, February 1 The District Education Officer (Secondary) had asked Raj Singh, Principal, Government Senior Secondary School, Malsian, to return Rs 30,008 for allegedly claiming house rent allowance while living in a government accommodation. The principal had already deposited Rs 50,000 to the government, he had been asked to deposit Rs 30,008 by the district education officer in a letter, issued in September. But he has not done so. While Raj Singh and his family had been living in a government house of the Nakodar Civil Hospital (allotted to his wife who was a staff nurse), he had been claiming house rent allowance by allegedly fraudulently saying that he was living in a rented accommodation. The DEO, in a letter issued to Singh, on September 3, 2013, had asked him to deposit the pending amount. He has so far not paid the pending amount to the education department claiming that some of his belongings were kept in the said (government) house - while he was actually living at a rented accommodation. Meanwhile, the education department has also not acted on the issue since then. Singh's claims, however, have been busted owing to the RTI information retrieved on the subject by an activist. The time during which the principal claims only his belongings were kept at the quarters, the records of the electricity department show that electricity was being consumed at the house. Raj Singh, when contacted, said his claims of rent were valid, "I was living in a little rented accommodation all this time and was paying the rent for it. Since the rented house was small, all our belongings could not be shifted to the rented house and some kept lying in the government home. Meanwhile, our stuff also remained in the house for about three months after my wife's retirement in March 2012. The amount of these months was also duly paid by me. I have not done any wrong." When asked why he was being billed if he wasn't in the house he said, "The meter in the house was running so the bill kept coming. We were not staying there."
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Sambar strays into Phagwara Industrial Area
Phagwara, February 1 The animal was said to be hiding near the GT Road. As it was trying to move to a safer place, it was spotted by some passers-by. The furore raised by them scared the sambar and it ran for a cover. Finally, a team of the Wildlife Department came to rescue it. The police, too, reached the spot to help the the wildlife staff. — OC
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Sports event for parents
Cambridge International School for girls organised a sports event ,“Funny Races”, with the parents of grade V, VI, VII and VII students at the school today. The parents, full of energy, were at the best. The activities were fun-filled and the parents displayed their skills at one-minute games, obstacle race, sack race, balance race and relay race.Funny races were organised with an understanding that when school and parents work together, children have a far better chance of not only being successful in school but in the life as well. A variety of activities were held during the event and the winning parents were given medals. The parents said they relived the golden years they had spent in their school. All in all, the parents gave a good fight to each other and the event was completed with a battle royal. On the occasion, academic director LWES Deepa Dogra, vice- principal Preeti Sharma, coordinators Richa Sharma, Deepti Arora, Gurpreet Kaur and Arvinder were present. Vice-principal Preeti Sharma congratulated the parents. She thanked everyone for making the event successful. Painting workshop
On the occasion of World Wetland Day, 20 students of PG Department of Fine Arts and four teachers of Apeejay College of Fine Arts, Jalandhar, participated in a painting workshop in Kanjali, Kapurthala. This workshop was organised by PAHAL, an NGO, in collaboration with the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology. The theme of this workshop was Wetlands in Kanjali. The students painted Kanjali Lake, capturing the changing colours and moods of the lake against the backdrop of forests. They painted the idyllic setting in impressionistic and realistic style by using different mediums such as pencil, water, oil acrylic. The paintings were reflective of the real life perspective that the students gained from being at the actual site. Principal Dr Sucharita said the painting was an ideal medium to sensitise society about the need to preserve environment. The students also participated in a painting competition. The first prize was bagged by Nancy Vijan while the second prize was bagged by Vandana. The third prize was bagged by Bhawna and the consolation prizes were won by Jeetu Singh, Kamaljit Singh and Jaspreet Singh. — TNS |
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Man robbed of cash
Amritsar, February 1 He said he had come to KR mobile showroom located in Liberty Market situated on the Railway Link Road for receiving payments. As soon as he came out of the shop, an unidentified youth snatched his bag and fled from the spot.
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Swindlers continue to trap gullible bank account holders on phone
Jalandhar, February 1 Mohit Sobti, a shopkeeper in Shahkot, today received a phone call and the caller, posing himself as a bank employee of the State Bank of
Patiala, asked for his ATM card details. "The caller asked me to provide my ATM card number and PIN number to upgrade my card. When I refused to provide the details, the caller warned me that my ATM card would get frozen," Sobti said. Suspecting foul play, he didn't provide his card details and immediately informed the bank. The caller repeatedly called him and attempted to convince him in this regard, Sobti said. When he went to the bank to inquire about such calls, the bank cautioned him not to entertain such calls as no such service was in force. The second call was received by
Gaurav, a commission agent in Shahkot. He also narrated the same story. He, too, didn't fall in the swindler's net. Two cases had come to the fore yesterday in which swindlers had withdrawn nearly Rs 40,000 from three bank accounts. The first case was reported at the New Baradari police station. The caller, claiming to be a bank employee, after getting ATM card details, allegedly withdrew Rs 21,500 from the account of a city based person. The victim, Santok Singh, a resident of Qazi
Mandi, complained to the police that after a few minutes of getting the call from some unknown mobile number, he received a message of cash withdrawal transaction. Similarly, in the second incident, reported at the police division number 1, the victim,
Sanjiv, of Urban Estate Phase I, was duped of nearly Rs 18,000. The police said the callers were traced to Bihar and the police were coordinating with the Bihar Police to nab the
swindlers. Navdeep Singh, SHO, New Baradari police station, said efforts were being made to lay trap on such callers. He appealed to the residents to inform the police if they received such calls. |
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Factory employee looted in city
Jalandhar, Feruary 1 Munna Yadav alleged that when he was returning home from the factory, some unknown persons stopped him on the way and asked him to deliver them cash and valuables. When he refused to entertain them, they started beating him and then snatched Rs 10,000 from him. He also raised an alarm, but nobody came to his help, the victim said, adding that the accused were aware of the fact that he was carrying cash. The victim said he had lodged a complaint at the division number 1 police station. The police has started investigation into the case.
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Jalandhar Tribune invites feedback from its readers on issues of public concern relating to Jalandhar, Phagwara, Kapurthala and the nearby areas. Readers can email their views to jalandhar.feedback@gmail.com They can also send their views to: Feedback, Jalandhar Tribune, Sector 29, Chandigarh - 160029. Letters sent by post must mention 'Feedback for Jalandhar Tribune' on the envelope and it should be signed and must contain the address and telephone number of the sender. It should not be more than 150 words. Cleaning of sewerage To clean sewerage and to remove silt from it, machines are used with big dumps. But these machines and dumps, usually fixed in the middle of the road, remain there for many days, causing inconvenience to commuters and residents. It is generally seen that only a machine is first installed and after some days, dumps are joined to it. During that period, the machine remains idle and when it is operated, it takes long intervals to do so. And even after the silt is removed and the dump is full of it, the machine is detached and the open dump remains unattended for several days. We all are aware of the condition of roads and to add to the difficulties of commuters, these machines and open dumps are left on the roads. The city residents while passing through these roads inhale bad odour. At present, two such machines are lying idle at the old railway road and two on the Industrial Area Road. This situation is not due to the strike which is going on for some days. The Sanitary Department should look into it. Aakanksha, Jalandhar
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