Amritsar, August 2
Covering of open drains with the investment of crores of rupees may be behind the collapse of the drainage system. An hour-long downpour is enough to submerge many roads for four to five hours.

Disaster management expert Surjit Sharma said the agencies concerned of the government were possibly covering these drains without conducting any environment-impact assessment.

He said it was really difficult to distinguish between the storm-water drains and sewerage drains in the city. Covering these drains was fraught with danger. Once covered, cleaning of these drains would be almost impossible.

Open drains are treated by oxidation during flow, which will be absent after these are covered. In case covered drains are clogged with waste, it will be a big problem. Gas formation is another issue.

Drains carry sewage water that emanates noxious gases and can cause severe groundwater pollution if trapped.

Covering of drains can lead to massive urban flooding because the concrete covering will obstruct groundwater recharge.

These are the reasons that cause silt to accumulate frequently and complaints of sewerage blockage are lodged by residents of different areas of the city. Municipal Corporation employees install a machine over sewerage and take out silt and pile it up on the road.

A large portion of sewer network in the walled city is still lying uncovered. Safai karmcharis engaged to clean these have a common grouse that the inhabitants of the area were disposing of all kinds of waste material in these open sewers. They may clean this sewer of solid waste and plastic bags in the morning but the sewer stream keeps running 24x7. This unchecked solid waste coupled with plastic bags may be flowing into the covered drains and it will obstruct the flow of sullage. This leads to waterlogging of main roads for long hours whenever it rains in the city.

This was evident yesterday when a spell of shower for less than two hours led to inundation of key roads, causing inconvenience to the commuters.

Besides, there are two drains surrounding the city. Tung Dhab passes through its periphery and the other is the City Outfall drain. The former is located in the north while the latter is situated in the south. Both of them merge near Khasa and that is known as Hudiara drain. It leads from here to Pakistan and there also it is known by the same name.

Tung Dhab was among the several drains developed across the state in 1955 to prevent and control floods. Hence, covering the drain will defeat its very objective. Besides, it will put the city at risk in case of a flood- like situation, Sharma said.

Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board Superintending Engineer Gurmeet Singh said covering of drains was highly necessary as densely populated localities were situated along these. Though the original purpose of these drains was to carry rain water, but over the years they were also used for carrying domestic and factory waste.

He accepted that the uncovered sewer in the walled city was responsible for choking of covered sewerage. He said the open sewer should be covered urgently. Since a major of part of the city was unplanned, there was not enough space available to lay a separate storm water sewerage and sanitary sewerage as is the case with a planned city like Chandigarh.

Amritsar, August 2
The government has planned to strip district health officers (DHOs) of their powers so as to abide by the instructions in the Food Safety and Standards Act to have designated officers, whole-timers and on a permanent basis.

With this, the DHOs are expected to lose their powers as officers in charge of birth and death registration, the tobacco-control programme and many other programmes associated health schemes. The deadline for registration or obtaining licences under the Food Safety and Standards Act is August 4.

Sources in the Health Department stated that the state department had filed an affidavit in the high court about having designated officers as required under the FSSA.

Earlier an RTI activist, Kuldip Singh Khaira, had filed a writ petition demanding that all DHOs in the state should be removed as under the FSSA rules and a whole-time officer should be designated for the purpose. The government had entrusted additional charge for such posts to the already working DHOs under a notification in August 2011.

The sources said that the department had now decided to make DHOs as whole-time designated officials for implementation of the FSSA as required by it.

With this, the DHOs would lose powers of assistant registrar of birth and death registration and as in charge of various schemes for investigation and prevention of communicable diseases and implementation of health schemes.

Meanwhile, the local Civil Surgeon said that they had not received any letter from the department about change of powers of the district health officers. 

Amritsar, August 2
More youths have approached the Border Security Force (BSF) authorities, urging them to help them in getting out of the scourge of drug abuse. They came forward during the de-addiction awareness programme organised by the force at Government Senior Secondary School, Khasa.

DIG, BSF (Amritsar sector), MF Farooqui called upon the residents of the villages to join hands in order to eradicate the menace of drug addiction from society. He said, “If we want to the root out the problem and save our young generation, it is imperative to come forward and launch a war against it.”

He urged them to provide information about drug peddlers who have their links with anti-national forces in Pakistan. He said until and unless they all gathered on a single platform, it would be difficult the curb the drug menace.

On the occasion, Alphaz theatre group staged a play “Teesri Jang”, which inspired the people to wage a war against drug addiction. Sarpanches of various villages, teachers of the school and NGOs participating in the programme appreciated the steps taken by the BSF and assured the force of all sorts of help.

A couple of youths came forward and asked the BSF authorities to help them de-toxify themselves.

Amritsar, August 2
The All-India Pingalwara Charitable Society held a march to commemorate the death anniversary of its founder, Bhagat Puran Singh, today. The march was flagged off by Pingalwara’s oldest Sewadar Lal Bachan and the President of the society, Dr Inderjit Kaur.

The march was joined by students of various schools, NCC cadets and volunteers of EcoSikh. The participants carried placards highlighting the importance of trees. They distributed cloth bags to the people to dissuade them from using polythene bags.

A cancer check-up camp and a medical camp was also organised by the Roko Cancer Charitable Trust on the society’s Mannawala campus. The camp was inaugurated by former Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla.

The society’s Vice President, Dr Jagdeepak Singh, members Preet Inderjit Kaur, Rajbir Singh and Col Darshan Singh Bawa were also present. 

Amritsar, August 2
Two drug addicts snatched the purse of a woman near Khalsa College here yesterday.

However, one of them was captured by three youths after a chase while his accomplice managed to escape from the spot.

The accused was later identified as Gurjant Singh of Lopoke village while his accomplice was identified as Mau of the same village.

The police have initiated action against Gurjant Singh. Police authorities said that Gurjant, who is habitual of consuming drugs, was held by Sandeep Singh and his two friends, Lovely and Hans Singh, of Mulla Behram village. They said that when the accused snatched the purse from the woman, the three were coming behind them.

They immediately started chasing them on their motorcycle. The motorcycle of the accused skidded in Nikka Singh Colony and he tried to run away. While Gurjant was captured, Mau fled from spot. He was later handed over to a PCR team of Cantonment police station.

Police officials said they were trying to locate the victim whose purse was snatched by the culprits. 

Amritsar, August 2
The incidents of ATM frauds continue unabated as unsuspecting people are falling a prey to unscrupulous elements, who resort to such activities.

In most of the incidents, these frauds are perpetrated when unaware residents seek help of others to withdraw money or when the victim is a senior citizen. Lack of security at ATMs, especially at nationalised banks, coupled with the slow pace of investigations on the part of the police encourages swindlers.

Jagdish Raj, a senior resident and a native of Hargobindpura, Chhehartah, has lost about 75,000 after his ATM card was exchanged by two youths on the pretext of checking the machine. They cleverly replaced his card with another ATM card issued in the name of Jyoti, a resident of Himachal Pradesh. He came to know about this when he received a message of withdrawal of Rs 35,000 and Rs 40,000 from his bank through the ATM. The police completed the formalities by registering an FIR and that, too, after much delay. While the incident occurred on July 7, a case was registered on July 17.

Gursahib Singh, investigating officer, said that no progress had been made in the case so far. He said he was yet to take the CCTV footage of the suspects from the ATMs from where they had withdrew the money.

In a similar incident, Dharampal of Ghumiaran, Fatehgarh Churian, Gurdaspur, was cheated of Rs 1.61 lakh by fraudsters in three days from July 9 to 11. The accused exchanged the ATM card of the victim on the pretext of helping him. The ATM card was exchanged from an ATM located outside Guru Nanak Dev Hospital. His grandson was admitted in the hospital and he had gone to withdraw money for his treatment.

Gagandeep Singh, SHO, Majitha road police, said that investigations were under progress. He said the amount was transferred from Dharampal’s account to another account and from that account the money was withdrawn through the ATM. He said they were investigating this and “hopefully, we would get some breakthrough soon.”

Ironically, the Police Department has repeatedly asked the banks to depute security guards at each ATM. However, only private banks have installed private security guards while a majority of nationalised banks were least bothered about this.

Jatinder Singh Aulakh, Police Commissioner, pointed out that such instances hardly took place where security guards were posted. “We have repeatedly asked the bank authorities during meetings to depute security personnel at ATM machines. Unfortunately, a majority of banks were still to abide by the instructions. The residents should also be vigilant and should not give their ATM cards to unknown persons.” 

Amritsar, August 2
Former Punjab Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla hit out at the SAD-BJP coalition government and termed the ‘Vanmahotsav’ organised by it as a “mere publicity stunt”.

In a press note issued here today, she said the government was not at all serious in augmenting the green cover and flayed it for “indiscriminate” chopping of trees along the highways as well as within the city limits.

She said holding of the ‘Vanmahotsav’ was to deflect the attention of the people from the burning issue of axing scores of trees for the BRTS project. She questioned the wisdom of the government in embarking on such a mega project before evaluating its practical implications for the border city. 

Amritsar, August 2
The Department of Journalism and Mass Communication of BBK DAV College for Women organised the event “Different Strokes-2014” to explore the talent of the new students and acquainted them with various career opportunities associated with the field of media.

Various competitions, including RJ hunt, news reading, debate, creative writing and collage making were held on the occasion for new students. 

Amritsar, August 2
The festival of Teej was celebrated with fervour at Khalsa College for Women (KCW) as young students in colourful Punjabi dresses danced on traditional Punjabi songs today.

The girls sang folk songs and performed “giddha” to welcome the monsoon season.

“The festival is dedicated to the women,” said KCW Principal Dr Sukhbir Kaur Mahal who herself performed giddha.

She said the festivals reminded of the good times and hoped that traditional festivals like Teej would not be forgotten by the younger generation of Punjab.

“This is, perhaps, the only festival which is dedicated to the girls,” said the Principal.

We are happy that the girls under the guidance of their teachers organised such a programme,” she added. Prof Jatinder Kaur, Prof Ravinder Kaur and Prof Manpreet Kaur were also present on the occasion.

Amritsar, August 2
A controversy erupted after the Karnataka-based firm operating the city bus service allegedly removed 50 drivers and conductors without assigning any specific reason.

The victims have approached the Central Trade Union (CTU), which has threatened to launch an agitation in case the firm did not reinstate them.

The drivers and conductors met activists of the trade union, which took the matter with Deputy Commissioner Ravi Bhagat. Bhagat asked them to meet Municipal Commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal who appointed an official to resolve the issue.

Beli Ram, a driver, said they were hired by the company immediately after the city bus service was introduced as a cheap and safe mode of transportation to the residents. Showing a receipt, he said like other employees, he had given Rs 5,000 to the company as security.

Singh Karampura, secretary, CTU, said the firm did not give appointment letters to them and after taking their services for months, they were shunted out without assigning any reason.

The firm took Rs 5,000 as security during their ‘appointment’.

He said such unethical work practices should not be allowed and if the Amritsar Municipal Corporation failed to reinstate them, they would be forced to follow the path of agitation.

He said earlier the firm, without informing the civic authorities, increased fares, which amounts to the breach of trust and beats the purpose of introducing the bus service. He said the firm raised fares from Rs 5 to Rs 10 irrespective of the distance. “Now, it has raised the slab to Rs 15 from Chhaharta to the bus stand. On the contrary, an auto-rickshaw charges Rs 10 and takes less time,” Karampura added.

Bakshi Ram Arora, Mayor and the director of Amritsar City Transport Service Ltd, said they had nothing to do with the functioning of the firm. He said it did not come under the purview of the MC or Amritsar City Transport Service Ltd.

“It is the prerogative of the company whom they want to retain or remove,” he said.

Amritsar, August 2
Waterlogged spots at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital (GNDH) have turned into a breeding ground for mosquitoes, posing a risk to the patients.

Even the pits dug up for carrying out the BRTS work along the GT Road here are also filled with water. One of such pits outside the railway workshop near Putlighar has been waterlogged for the past 15 days. The residents demanded that the administration should instruct officials concerned to pour oil in the pits so that the growth of mosquitoes could be stopped. The administration had earlier issued instructions to pour oil in all ponds in rural areas.

“As the administration is focussing on the outer areas, waterlogged places in the city are a breeding ground for mosquitoes,” said a resident, Kewal Ram. He said the administration should take action before the malaria and dengue set in. At Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, water accumulated following showers yesterday. A place near a hospital ward was seen filled with water. The patients complained that they were using mosquito repellents to keep them away.

“The storm sewerage system to drain out rain water is inefficient, which results in waterlogging,” an employee at the hospital said. More than 100 cases of dengue and many cases of malaria were recorded last year. An advisory has also been issued in this regard by the administration. 

Amritsar, August 2
For Caroline Menage, a French citizen, nothing could have been more delightful than watching the French Day being celebrated at Delhi Public School (DPS), Amritsar. She had helped in organizing the celebrations for the special day at the school.

Caroline saved all her earnings to visit India and had joined DPS in Amritsar to assist the students in her native language at the foreign languages department of the school. Caroline who is from Le Mans in France, situated at a distance of two hours from Paris, was here as part of an exchange programme by "MILNA", a French organisation.

School principal Sangeeta Singh gave a warm welcome to chief guest Dr Mohan Kumar, HoD, Foreign Languages at GNDU who is a master in German language and also holds a post-doctoral degree in the Russian language.

While addressing the students of the foreign languages department, the principal said that in order to fully inculcate the flavour of the language, the school uses French drama, songs and other cultural events that would help them in interacting with the people of France and other European countries using the French language.

The idea of celebrating 'French Day' by the school was to familiarize the students with French traditions and culture for a better understanding of the French environment.

The occasion started with a song by Pascal Parisot, "Wonderful", presented by the students of class V. It was followed by a virtual tour via a multi-media film on French monuments. The students were delighted to see the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Palais Garnier opera house and the Notre Dame cathedral.

Students of class VI and VII presented a meaningful French play, Les Quatre Bougies, meaning 'Four candles' that revolved around the efforts to guard, combined with hope, that would bring peace, faith and love in the world. 

Reinforced poles are being installed for transmission lines by a private company in Amritsar. Are they really reinforced properly? There is a big question mark over it. No, they are not reinforced in the real sense, because in our East Mohan Nagar area, one such pole broke like a match stick when it was hit by something. The broken part of this pole revealed a shocking truth-- there were no steel bars (saria) running through the length of it, just a thin wire mesh on the one side. The broken pole is still lying in our locality and the authorities concerned may ask someone to have a look at it.

We dread to think what would happen if strong winds uproot these poles.