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Over 500 illegal water connections in sensitive areas
Recovery of suspected bomb shells creates panic
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Kalia bats for infrastructure development in city
Dress code no bar for city party-goers
Drive to take water samples eyewash
Hans is chief patron of Aadi Dharam Samaj
State Budget disappoints farmers
MC pulls down illegal taxi stand
DC forms team to check mid-day meals
One held with psychotropic drugs Feedback
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Over 500 illegal water connections in sensitive areas
Jalandhar, July 18 In many of these places, the number of illegal connections is so huge that sources say the MC can't possibly severe them even if it wants do. If it does, the people won't get water. In others the connections being cut are reportedly being re-connected - much on the lines of the Garha outbreak seen last year. Bhargo Camp
The sewerage in the area is very old and people in the locality live in little homes. While the locality saw a surge of diarrhoea cases in the beginning, things are reportedly under control now. However, the number of illegal connections in the Bhargo Camp alone is 20,000.
People live in small homes and water connections, taps are usually on the streets from where people fill water. So
far, ground reports say not a single illegal connection is severed because majority of the people is dependent on this water. Chugitti area
About 100 to 125 connections illegal connections are present in the Chugitti area which alone gave over 32 jaundice cases this year during the outbreak. According the councillor so far the MC teams have been able to severe only as many 12 to 13 connections while the rest stay put. As many as 200 to 250 illegal connections are also present in the Ekta Nagar area of the same ward. This area too is sensitive. But so far none of the connections have been cut in Ekta Nagar either. Councillor manjinder Singh Chattha says after MC people cut the connections in some of the area, he saw people reconnecting some of the pipes after which he had to ask them to stop. "That would have caused mixing of clean water and sewerage water yet again. In some parts
of the ward things are really bad. We couldn't have let that happen. So now all the connections causing mixing lie severed but we can't say all illegal connections have been cut," he said. Gandhi Camp
Gandhi Camp has about hundred illegal connections of which supply to about 32 was disconnected. Residents say makeshift wood plugs or polythenes is being used to plug the supply in some of the connections which isn't effective for the long run. While the councillor Sulekhs Bhagat says the nut will hold off the connections for a long time, she adds that they have also been told to ask many of the people to put alternate connections which are higher than the present pipes so that water doesn't mix with sewage. Aman Nagar and neighbouring area
Councillor Des Raj Jassal says despite reportage of cases from the Aman Nagar area, none of the teams of MC or health have visited his area to severe illegal connections. Aman Nagr has about 15 to 20 illegal connections and the rest of the ward has about 200 to 250 illegal connections. He says although health teams have approached him to visit some of the areas tomorrow. Meanwhile, Indira Colony, Isa Nagar and Guru Nanak Nagar in the said war (number one). Councillors in some of the areas have even expressed apprehensions that if the MC doesn't remove the makeshift wooden plugs to fix leaks and illegal connections with permanent solutions, they will themselves rope in NGOs to ensure no leak or mix happens in the future. Expertspeak
The MC is not putting wood plugs in any area. Our men are on the job every day to fix these kind of troubles wih effective taps. As many as 40 to 45 illegal water connections in various areas of the city have been cut. MC teams have been constituted and they are spread into all the seven zones where at least three men are put on job to just severe an illegal connection or fix a leak or pipe problem whenever one arises. Barring a couple of zones, where there is no case at all, in all the other zones, at least three men have been out on the job. In all 14 men have been out for this duty. It is a falsehood that our men are putting wooden plugs. We are outing proper plugs to seal illegal connections which can't be opened by any
person. The DC has personally went to many of these areas yesterday and people have no problem. They are saying they are getting clean water. The Municipal Corporation is doing its
job. — PS Jaggi, Additional Commissioner, Municipal Corporation |
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Recovery of suspected bomb shells creates panic
Jalandhar, July 18 The place from where bomb shells were recovered was once occupied by the Basti Bawa Khel police post and possession was recently given to the property owner. Harjit Singh, Assistant Commissioner of Police (West), said they had received information that bomb shells like objects were traced during the digging work for construction of house in the locality. Tensed over the recovery of bomb like object, house owner Rajesh immediately informed the police. Soon the development spread, panic had gripped the area residents. Concerned police along with bomb squad unit reached the spot and started the investigation. "Five bomb shells like objects were recovered from the house and all seemed not alive at all. Still for precautionary purpose, we have sent the objects at bomb squad unit at the PAP to inquire their status," said Singh . A police official said it seemed that bombshell were dumped here over a decade ago and police could not fix responsibility of any individual in this case as dumping such objects in plot did not prove any serious motive. Fact file
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Kalia bats for infrastructure development in city
Jalandhar, July 18 The flyovers had been announced for Bashirpura, Gurunanakpura, Ladhewali, Dakoha and Dhanowali railway crossings. The former minister has also demanded Rs 20 crore for completion of Northern India Institute of Fashion Technology (NIIFT) building in Surya Enclave here upon which Rs 20 crore has already been spent and the foundation stone was laid in 2010 by CM Parkash Singh Badal.. Kalia has also raised the demand that Jalandhar be included in the list of safe city as Punjab is having Police Commissionerate system in three cities namely Amritsar, Ludhiana and Jalandhar and there is a proposal in the budget to implement the concept of safe city in Ludhiana and Amritsar. Kalia appreciated the initiative for diversification of crops and for encouraging the food processing industry to stem the stagnation in growth in agriculture. There is need to protect the industries installed in 70-80s in Punjab sheerly due to the enterprising nature of Punjabis namely hosiery, sports, surgical, rubber, steel industry in Mandi Gobindgarh. The said industry needs protection and Kalia demanded the necessary arrangement for VAT refund. Kalia suggested that the arrangement for preparation of midday meal be made through Parents Teacher Association (PTA) and its members should be those parents whose progeny studies in that very school and cash may be placed at disposal of PTA. Kalia further suggested that an amount of Rs 1.50 lakh should be made at the disposal of each cancer patient who is at liberty to get its treatment from any hospital he likes and the patient has to spent far more amount on treatment than given as government grant. |
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Dress code no bar for city party-goers
Jalandhar, July 18 Hazoor Ahmed owner of the restaurant and lounge Brew Masters, said, "There are both parties by lower income groups and the elite in the city. Most of the elite group parties are among private circles. Among the open parties, where stag entry is allowed, the kind of entry permitted depends on the club. Like, in ours we take utmost care that unwanted elements are not allowed into the lounge. But both in ours and other clubs barring an entry of someone on the basis of their dress is extremely rare. At least in ours we don't bar any entries on the basis of their dress." Abhinav Budhiraja from Party Hunterz, who some say has been pivotal in kicking up the theme party fad in the city, said, "Dress codes are greatly affected by open or closed group parties. People are free and bold in closed groups because it's their own colleagues and friends. Mostly, rather than going for public parties in the city, people go for private parties. People usually avoid the consequences an open party might provide. Open parties also bring in a lot of desi crowds, some of whom might not know how to adhere by codes. They might also end up drinking a lot and end up in fights. So the real themes are visible in closed group parties. However, in all it is rare for people being turned away from an open party in the city, no matter how badly they might be dressed." Kanuj Gupta from the restaurant Fifth Avenue Lounge said, "So far too dramatic dress codes are not in so far but the fad is picking up fast especially among kitty party groups where people and couples are comfortable with the group involved. While desi or village folk is not too interested in parties, even among the open themed parties, not all people are religiously following dress codes so far." Brand consultant and religious party goer Sneha Arora said, "The city has yet to do a lot of growing up as far as dressing up for theme parties is concerned. Because the foot fall is already so low for open parties, hardly anybody is ever turned away on a trivial issue like dress. People mostly shy away from open parties - especially those involving stag entries - because single boys have a possibility of creating problems. I have personally heard of parties where male partygoers took off phone numbers from the phone book and called a number of female partygoers later. Stricter dress codes among open parties will only come to force when people start abiding by the basic party rules."
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Drive to take water samples eyewash
Jalandhar, July 18 Running from a tubewell building, the laboratory is nothing but a façade as it lacks both the chemical and the biological testing facility due to the shortage of chemicals. “The chemicals went out of stock just a few days ago. We sought approval for Rs 25,000 to buy testing material from the Municipal Commissioner last week. Once approved, we will start the sampling again,” said PS Jaggi, MC superintending engineer. He also informed that as of now, no testing could be done as chemicals were out of stock. Sources at the MC revealed that the laboratory has been in a pitiable condition since its inception in 2008. “The lab is running inside a tubewell building whose rooftop leaks during rain. Most of the time, the lab runs out of ‘Maconkey’, a chemical required to perform bacteria culture on a water samples,” sources said, adding that since the chemical was very expensive, MC bought it very rarely. “Now, without the bacteria culture and the chemical testing facility, what is the fun of running a lab like this?” an official quipped. He said most of the time, the staff working in the laboratory was forced to pay for the chemical and many bills were never cleared till date. Sources said although the MC managed to install two incubators to test water samples, it failed to pay the cost of repairs to the company once they were burnt due to extreme heat of the tubewell. Later, when the incubators developed some fault, the company refused to repair them and the staff were forced to repair the hi-tech incubators on their own. Fact file
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Hans is chief patron of Aadi Dharam Samaj
Jalandhar, July 18 When asked about his existing affiliation with the SAD, he said, “It would continue to be. My association with the Samaj would be more about social
upliftment.” Ever since Hans was out of active politics, he has been coming up with one announcement or the other. During the Lok Sabha elections, he sought a substitute candidate for Akali contender and sitting Adampur MLA Pawan
Tinu. He, however, was pacified by Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal, who asked him to move to Bathinda and campaign for Harsimrat
Badal. After the polls, he quit his seat at Dera Lal Badshah, Nakodar and moved to another dera at Gohir village. Hans today said he was at peace in the new
dera, away from the noise of his previous dera. “Dera Lal Badshah had started getting a lot of funding and I did not want to be embroiled in any controversy. I couldn’t keep the details of the accounts over there and thought of moving to avoid any controversy. But I still go there. A programme has started at Lal Badshah today and I will attend it,” he added. He had off lately supported safai karamcharis and had accompanied them for talks with the Deputy CM on the issue of solid waste management plant. “The talks are surely going to yield results soon,” he added. |
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State Budget disappoints farmers
Jalandhar, July 18 Apart from this, the much hyped crop diversification policy of the had been left untouched in the Budget, they said. Talking to Jalandhar Tribune, Sukhdev Kokri of Bharti Kisan Union Ekta
(Ugranhan) said the SAD government, which claimed itself to be farmer-friendly, didn’t say anything about the debt-ridden farmers. He said there should have been a special package for crop diversification as water table has been going down drastically in the state. “There has been a draught like situation in many parts of Punjab. The paddy crop has been damaged in many areas. Nothing has been announced to compensate farmers,” he added.
Kokri said they have asking for 16 hour power supply to the farmers for the past several years. But the government is not even supplying eight hour power supply, which was announced by it, he added. “River water irrigation has collapsed in the state. Therefore, reconstruction of rivers was needed,” he added. A farmer from Ahmadpur village, Gurvinder Singh, said, “We have been expecting that the government would do something about the rising prices of farm machinery. They did nothing of this sort. At least farming tools should be provided to the cooperative societies so that small farmers can hire them. It will save them a lot of money.” |
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MC pulls down illegal taxi stand
Jalandhar, July 18 Their proximity to Hotel Radisson is said to have been the cause behind
the move. Most VVIPs, including the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister, stay at the hotel during their visits to the city. Hardeep Singh Raju, the stand owner, said he had been asked to shift his base to the new stand coming up under the Khalsa College ROB. “What is the fun of removing our kiosks when taxis are being allowed to be parked? The owner, whose taxi stand was removed earlier, continues to park his vehicles at the same site. There are a number of taxi stands on the same road but there has been no action against them,” he said. Fact file
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Traders give 7-day ultimatum to government
Jalandhar, July 18 Ravinder Dhir and Gurcharn Singh, representative of the committee, said they had named the agenda of the meeting as ‘Dhake Shahi’ of the government. “Industrialists and traders of Punjab oppose the recent notification regarding the VAT Act. It has a lot of complications. According to it, dealers cannot get VAT refund on the stock lying with them as the refund is being given only on the actual sales. It has also made the criteria of calculating the VAT refund cumbersome. Its sole motive is to harass traders,” they alleged. “When traders file all sales and purchase in VAT returns quarterly and everything is with the Sales Tax Department, then what is the use of increasing unnecessary paper work. It has, in fact, led to corruption in the department,” they said. “If our demands are not met in seven days, we will hold protest outside the Sales Tax Department and outside the residence of local MLAs. If the government doesn’t change its new policy even after the protest, then we will resort to state-wide bundhs,” they warned. |
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DC forms team to check mid-day meals
Jalandhar, July 18 The DC instructed the team to check the quality of mid-day meals of at least 10 schools every day. During a meeting of the District Education Development Committee, he said if insects or substandard food was found, then the money for the meal on that day would not be released to the company providing the mid-day meal. If substandard food was found repeatedly, then the company’s agreement would be cancelled and legal proceedings would be initiated against it, he added. The DC also said strict action would be taken against those supplying bad quality raw materials for the meals. Meanwhile, mid-day meal manager Rattan Lal said about 50 to 60 schools were checked in different areas of the district today by assistant block managers and BPEOs but no major flaw was found in the
food. — TNS |
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Jalandhar, July 18
Jalandhar, July 18
