Amritsar, November 22
Even as the holy city receives a high number of domestic tourists and those from abroad daily, but these days its roads are strewn with refuse and heaps of garbage at the roadsides.

The garbage-collection system has collapsed in the city as the Municipal Corporation has no site to dump the garbage after protests broke out at the Bhagtanwala dumpyard and other dump sites in the city.

The district administration today held a meeting to overcome the problem of finding a suitable dumping site. The meeting was attended by Local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi, Deputy Commissioner Ravi Bhagat, Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Inderbir Singh Bolaria, Police Commissioner Jatinder Singh Aulakh and others.

The mayor, talking to the Amritsar Tribune, said the corporation had sought police assistance in dumping garbage at the designated dumping sites. He added that the matter had been brought to the notice of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal. He accepted that garbage in a majority of areas in the city remained to be lifted. However, he added, five tractor-trolleys had been deployed to lift garbage from around the Golden Temple.

Shamsher Singh, a resident of the Lohgarh gate area inside the walled city, said the condition of the inner city roads was deplorable. “Heaps of refuse are dotting the roads and vehicles and commuters were littering refuse all over the narrow roads.” He added that many roads had become slippery and vehicles were skidding off the roads. At places, open drains were overflowing over the roads.

He warned that delay in lifting the garbage could pose health hazards to the residents.

Apart from the MC vehicles, private workers, who collect waste from homes, have also stopped lifting garbage from localities. These workers are generally engaged in lifting garbage from posh localities.

The Amritsar Master Plan was introduced some years ago, but its implementation and prioritisation of various works was not done. The drafting of the Master Plan envisages growth of the city for the next half a century.

Congress workers led by Congress councillor Gurinder Singh Rishi today held a protest to highlight the plight of the city and its residents due to heaps of garbage at Rambagh Chowk. Shamsher Singh said in case the SAD-BJP ruling coalition did not initiate lifting of garbage within the next five days, then they would throw the garbage in front of the MC and the mayor’s offices.

Amritsar, November 22
Repairing the damaged potion of Bhandari railway overbridge is stalled, awaiting approval for blocking current in the power line passing underneath the ROB.

After a long wait, the railways is all set to start the repairing of the damaged part of the overbridge, which had collapsed after a freak accident almost a year ago.

Sources in the engineering branch of the railways stated that all fabricated iron and steel frames to repair the damaged portion of the ROB have arrived on the site. However, the installation work will start once the approval to block current in overhead power cables comes from the divisional office at Ferozepur.

The bridge section of the engineering branch requires two hours’ power supply blockade for 20 days to instal the frames.

The bridge, which connects the key areas of the city, has been witnessing increased congestion and traffic jams ever since it collapsed partially, causing great inconvenience to the commuters.

After a long wait, the repair of the Bhandari railway overbridge has commenced. A portion of the bridge had fallen as a heavy sand-laden truck passed on it. The key bridge is the lifeline of the city because it connects the old city with the rest of the areas.

Earlier, a team from the bridge workshop at Jalandhar collected the measurement of the beams of the cantilever bridge. After preparing the same at the workshop, they have now transported and installed these here.

Meanwhile, the slack approach of the government and its departments came to the fore as no attempt was made to repair the portion in the initial six months. The state government’s tall claim of providing world-class infrastructure in the holy city also fell flat.

A senior citizen, Naresh Johar, said keeping in view the significance of the bridge and the high-volume traffic commuting over it daily, residents expected a quick response to its repair. However, the bridge, unattended for nearly six months, reflected badly on the part of the government.

Commuters are facing a tough time as the bridge often witnesses traffic snarls during the day and no government agency has bothered to repair a part of the bridge that had collapsed on December 6, 2013.

Bhandari Bridge, popularly known as ‘Uccha Pul’, was built in 1955. According to the RITES company, which had studied the immense load being borne by the bridge, around 1.64 lakh vehicles pass through this bridge in 24 hours. This led to frequent traffic jams. Due to this, pollution level also increases manifold in the area around the bridge.

The attempt to widen the bridge, as the traffic flow on the key link increased manifold following the construction of the elevated road, came to a naught.

A three-member technical team of the railways had visited the bridge in February 2011 to study the feasibility of widening it, but later rejected the proposal on the ground that the iron angles which separated the main bridge from the pedestrian path on both sides could not be removed as it was a cantilever bridge.

Instead, they had mooted the idea of constructing a new bridge by demolishing it. However, the government handed over the responsibility to the Amritsar Improvement Trust to identify an alternate site for a parallel bridge.

Amritsar, November 22
Broken windowpanes at government health institutions in the city are a matter of concern for patients and their attendants at night. The patients are using plastic sheets and cardboards to cover them at night.

During a visit to the hospitals in the city, the patients complained that temperature dipped drastically during the night. “The cool wind from outside makes people uncomfortable during the night,” said a patient at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital.

Another patient said, “We use two to three blankets to stay warm. The broken windowpanes should be replaced at the earliest.”

The Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs Memorial Civil Hospital, TB Sanatorium, Employees State Insurance Hospital and the Satellite Hospital face the same problem.

The widows in the corridors were also seen broken. The patients complained that they were suffering due to broken window glasses during the night. “The administration must repair them as harsh winter days are ahead,” said Jagpal Singh, a visitor at the city Civil Hospital.

Amritsar, November 22
With the active support of the victim of a snatching incident, the police managed to arrest one of the accused, who had snatched the wallet of a local resident from a locality opposite to the AlphaOne Shopping Mall.

Three unknown persons had robbed Jaspal Singh Sethi of Sant Avenue on GT road on November 19. A retired Class I officer, Sethi, was returning home after an evening walk.

He stated to the police that on the way, three motorcycle-borne youths asked him about a residential address. He said he did not know about it and proceeded towards his home. A few minutes later, the same youths came and asked for another address. Sethi gave the same reply, but this time when he moved towards his house, the accused attacked him and snatched his wallet.

He immediately raised the alarm, following which people rushed towards them. At this, the snatchers fled on their motorcycle. However, one of the residents identified an accused as Anoop Singh, son of Karnail Singh, a resident of the New Partap Nagar area. The person who identified him said that he had seen the youth several times in the Sudarshan Nagar area, where he used to visit Ghoriyan Wali Gali, infamous for bootlegging and drug abuse.

The family kept a close watch in the area and when Anoop Singh reached there for consumption of drugs, they informed the police, which arrested him.

Amrik Singh, SHO, Division-B police station, confirming the arrest said that raids were being conducted to arrest his remaining accomplices, identified as Manjit Singh, alias Monty of Dramma Wala Bazaar, and Rahul of the Sultanwind Road area. He said Manjit Singh was a cousin of Anoop Singh.

He said investigations were under progress against the person to whose house Anoop had gone for consumption of drugs.

Amritsar, November 22
The guest house manager and his accomplice who helped in providing accommodation to the accused involved in the gang-rape case has been remanded to police custody for three days.

Kulwinder Kumar, SHO, Division C police station, said the prime accused, who committed the crime was yet to be arrested. He said a medical board conducted the medical examination of the victim and the final report was yet to come.

A Jalandhar-based married woman was allegedly gang-raped by four persons after hiring a guest house in the walled city area. She had been living near the Golden Temple for the past one week after a dispute with her husband. Here she met the prime accused, Sukha, a resident of Batala, who along with his three friends exploited her physically.

A case has been registered in this connection while the police also arrested Manoj Kumar, manager of the guest house, along with Harpal Singh who helped in providing the room.

Kulwinder said raids were being conducted to arrest the culprits, who had been on the run.

Amritsar, November 22
In its drive against drug abuse, the police have arrested 28 drug peddlers and bootleggers in separate incidents in the past 24 hours. The police seized a total of 5 kg of narcotic powder besides 15 gm heroin and 30 bottles of liquor from them.

The Division A police have arrested four persons, identified as Pawan Kumar, alias Gorry of Mahal village, Sandeep Kumar of Dashmesh Nagar, Harpal Singh of Sehyada village and Kartar Singh, alias Kero, of Ibban Khurad village. The police seized 200 gm, 10 gm and 210 gm of narcotic powder from Pawan, Sandeep and Harpal, respectively, while Kartar was held with 30 bottles of whisky. He could not produce any valid documents to the police regarding the sale or purchase of liquor.

Amritsar, November 22
The Border Security Force (BSF) is committed to uplift the border population in terms of health, education, border area development besides spreading awareness against social evils such as drug addiction, female foeticide etc.

This was stated by Ashok Kumar, BSF IG, who along with MF Farooqui, DIG, presided over the civic action programme held at Government Senior Secondary School at Attari near here today.

BSF IG Ashok Kumar along with other officials and students of Government Senior Secondary School during the Civic Action Programme at Attari on Saturday. A Tribune photograph

“Border population is the most important stake holder in border management and we immensely value their contribution in efficient border management. Therefore, with the active help of the residents of the border belt and security agencies, including the police and the civil administration, the BSF will put all-out efforts to curb the menace of drug abuse in the border areas,” said the IG while adding that such programmes would be started in other parts of Punjab Frontier also.

He said the BSF’s drug de-addiction campaign, launched in the border villages, has started yielding positive results. He expressed hope that it would further help in strengthening the bond between the border populace and the BSF.

He also urged the villagers to come forward with new and valuable ideas, which could be implemented for better border management and improving the living standards of border population.

Speaking on the occasion, he said that during 2014-15, a budget of Rs 437.2 lakh was allotted to the BSF for completing 56 works under the Border Area Development Programme (BADP), out of which Rs 245.37 lakh were already utilised for completing 35 works under this project.

Other than this, units under Frontier Punjab have conducted 22 such Civic Action Programmes in which works related to education, free medical camps, cultural programmes and 16 drug de-addiction programmes were held, he said.

Meanwhile, residents and panchayat members of around 15 neighbouring villages participated in the programme. During the programme a skit on female foeticide besides a play “Avesley Yugan Di Nayika”, spreading the message of drug de-addiction was held, The students of Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Attari, also gave a demonstration of unarmed combat. This was followed by bhangra and giddha by the students.

Amritsar, November 22
Amritsar College of Engineering and Technology and Oracle India signed an MoU to share practical experience of various technologies.

College chairman Amit Sharma and Ruchika Sarna from Oracle India signed the MoU. Sharma said this would pave way for the students to gain practical experience of big data, ERP, e-com and cloud computing. “With increasing competition in the market, it is important for the students to gain additional knowledge,” Sharma added.

Ruchika said her company had been associated with the college for the past six years. Corporate trainers from Oracle India will visit the college to impart training on the cutting-edge technology to the faculty as well as the students.

“I am sure that Oracle 11g and Java SE 7 will be able to address requirements of the students. With regard to the new products, Primavera can be evaluated for mechanical engineering, civil engineering and electronics and communication engineering. The e-com can be offered to all students across the disciplines as a great value addition,” Ruchika said.

Principal VK Banga said the new technologies would be accommodated in the regular curriculum as the college was entitled to modify the curricula as per the industry needs. “The practical exposure of these technologies will boost the confidence level of the students and brighten the chances of their placement,” he said.

Amritsar, November 22
The Shakti Mahila Sahayta Kendra organised a function to felicitate girls on successful completion of tailoring and embroidery course on its anniversary here today. The kendra was started at the Kotwali police station in 1988, said former Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla.

At present, the kendra is running from the district courts. “We not only focus on girls but also provide counselling to families so that marital break-ups could be avoided,” said Chawla.

Around 100 families that were helped by the kendra in the past one year were also present. Chawla said they were running two primary schools for the past five years to provide education to children of the poor families. Deputy Commissioner Ravi Bhagat, District Social Security Officer Narinderjit Singh and various prominent educationists and social workers were also present.

Amritsar, November 22
Students of Spring Blossoms School took the audience into the world of Akbar and Birbal during their two-day annual function ‘Unwinding Times’. The event was inaugurated by Deputy Commissioner Ravi Bhagat.

The students between the age group of three to six years presented a colourful programme and took the audience into the magnificent world of the Mughal era. Their presentation left everyone spellbound.

The theme of the programme was chosen with an aim to inculcate moral values among the children.

Employing the medium of music, dance and drama, the students portrayed the lifestyle of the people in the Mughal period. Dazzling costumes and elaborate props reflected the grandiose of the time.

Re-enacting the witty and inspiring tales of Akbar and Birbal, the students performed acts on famous short stories.

Appreciating the theme of the show, Deputy Commissioner Ravi Bhagat said children should be encouraged to be responsible citizens of tomorrow.

Principal Anupama Mehra said, “We need a civilized society with deep conviction for human rights and where everyone contributes fruitfully to the global community.”