Amritsar, November 24
Even as Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, during his visit here, had assured the resident that the Bhagtanwala dumpyard issue would be resolved with some “mutually” accepted solution, but with no end in sight to their plight, the agitating residents are all set to ‘gherao’ the mayor’s office tomorrow.

They have decided to lodge their protest in the form of a procession, which will pass through key locations in the city.

Meanwhile, the a private medical firm has conducted free health check-up camps for the Bhagtanwala residents free of cost.

The company representative Sunny Sharma confirmed that they had found a substantial number of residents suffering from chronic breathing problems.

“They were in the age group of between 35-40 years. Besides, we had diagnosed many patients suffering from lung disorders. These respiratory problems related to inhaling unhealthy air,” he said.

During a meeting held today, the residents had despatched at least 25 invitation letters to leaders belonging to various political parties barring those belonging to the BJP, urging them to support their cause and participate in their protest march planned for tomorrow.

A local resident, Sanjay Sharma, said the political leaders who had been sent invitation included the SAD’s Chief Parliamentary Secretary Inderbir Singh Bolaria and senior deputy mayor Avtar Singh Trukkanwala, AAP’s Daljit Singh and Congress leaders Jasbir Singh Dimpa and Thekedar.

The residents will carry out the protest march from the Kot Mangal Singh chowk (the site where they have been staging a continuous protest for the past over 20 days) to Chattiwind Gate.

From there, they will proceed to Circular road-Khajanawala Gate-Lahori Gate-Hathi Gate-Hall Gate and finally to the Town Hall complex, where the mayor’s office is located.

The residents resented that they had been compelled to live under the most unhygienic conditions due to the dumpyard in their locality and their family members had been suffering serious diseases, especially respiratory problems due to which some have even lost their lives.

Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora said the matter had been brought to the notice of the Chief Minister in detail, but the MC was yet to identify some alternative site to dump the garbage.

The Bhagtanwala residents claimed that even the ground water in their localities had got contaminated due to the garbage spillage, causing many diseases in the localities.

Stating that the proposed solid waste management plant would further affect the environment of the area, they demanded it to be set up at another place outside the city limits and demanded that instead of raising a boundary wall, the dumpyard should be covered with sand to eliminate its ill-effects as an immediate measure.

An aggrieved resident, Jasbir Kaur, said that no one from the administration had ever shown serious concern or come up with any solution.

Another resident, Gurcharan Singh, said, “Except for verbal assurances, be it from politicians or officials, there seemed to be no solution in hand. We are still in the dark about what relief the administration has been planning to bring us.”

Amritsar, November 24
Banned Chinese acrylic threads are being used often to fly kites in the city. It has caused many road accidents besides injuring many birds. Its use has impacted the sale of traditional thread called ‘manja’ adversely.

Despite the ban on the sale of plastic kite strings, their sale goes on unabated in the city. With the kite-flying season in full swing now, birds are once again becoming victims of plastic strings, popularly known as the Chinese thread.

During the past one week, many birds have been injured seriously after getting entangled in these strings in different parts of the city, said Vineet Randhawa from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).

Randhawa said scores of birds died and hundreds sustained injuries due to the plastic strings in the city last year. The kite-flying season picks up with the onset of winter. Plastic string is also dangerous for the commuters. A normal thread made of cotton splits easily on being stretched to a certain extent, but the string made of plastic does not split at all.

Plastic strings are being openly sold in different markets and outer parts of the walled city. A source said plastic strings worth over Rs 3 crore had been stocked by the kite sellers in the wake of Lohri. Sources said the police and the administration were aware about the sale of these strings, but took no action.

The kite sellers, meanwhile, blame the residents for the menace. “There is a cut-throat competition in this business. Even if I don’t sell the plastic string, my competitor will,” said a kite trader.

Amritsar, November 24
Taking a serious view of the rampant sale of Chinese kite string, the district administration along with Police Commissioner and Senior Superintendent of Police (rural) have announced that a drive will be launched against the sellers as well as the consumers, who are using the deadly string for flying kites.

Deputy Commissioner Ravi Bhagat held a meeting with Police Commissioner Jatinder Singh Aulakh and Jasdeep Singh, SSP, Amritsar rural. They decided to launch a rigourous campaign against the persons who are storing the Chinese string.

The Chinese string has become a menace as a number of cases were reported in the past in which the people, especially commuting on two-wheelers, sustained serious injuries after the ‘dor’ fell on the road and came in their way. It has also proved dangerous for the birds who get entangled in these hanging strings.

Ravi Bhagat said those who were found storing the string illegally would be taken to task and a criminal case would be registered against them. He said those who were procuring and using these strings would also be booked under similar charges. He said he if the person using the string was a minor, a case would be registered against his parents.

He passed instructions to the SDMs, the tehsildar and the naib tehsildars to conduct raids at suspected storage places and godowns of Chinese ‘dor’. He also asked the police stations in the city as well as rural areas to register FIRs against those involved in the sale and purchase of the string. He also urged the parents of the children to educate and discourage their wards against using the string.

Aulakh and Jasdeep Singh said they had asked the SHOs, the ACP or the DSP-rank officials to keep an eye on the violators and take stern action against them.

Amritsar, November 24
The five-day Yuva Lok Rang Utsav (folk festival), organised by the Virsa Vihar Society, concluded on a high note as the literati gathered in full attendance. The last day was dedicated to Punjabi poetry and literary history with a poetry recital and discussion held for the audience.

Eminent Punjabi poet and editor of “Akhar” magazine, Parminderjit, presided over the session, which included popular names of Punjabi literature like Manjeet Puri, Harmeet Vidyarthi, Surjit Judge, Kulwinder Kulla, Swarajbir, Desraj Dadar, Sarabjit Sandhu and others. Mohammad Ijaaz from Lahore, too, was a special guest at the gathering.

The five-day folk festival was aimed at promoting traditional Punjabi arts. The poetry session, too, emphasised on promoting Punjabi poetry and literature as new, emerging authors are coming into picture. The other artists present on the occasion were popular theatre persons Kewal Dhaliwal, Vijay Sharma, Ramesh Yadav,, Bhupinder Singh Sandhu and Tejinder Bawa.

Amritsar, November 24
Almost two months after its launch, the massive Swachh Bharat movement is expanding its base in cause and effect, with every possible effort being made on sustaining the movement through community and individual participation. And while the movement still lacks an aggressive pace and precision, cracks are beginning to appear, especially in Amritsar. Heaps of garbage are still very much a part of city nooks and corners; the only silver lining is the effort of educational institutions in making significant changes towards youth awareness.

Most schools and educational institutions are adopting green practices and making their premises eco-friendly. Distributing plants, organising seminars, green marches and creative activities like staging street plays or writing school papers, individual involvement through volunteer efforts seem to have had some effect.

Rajesh Prabhakar, Principal, Prabhakar School, has taken it upon himself to impart eco-friendly education and a value system to his students. The school is already among the few places to have adopted green practices like water conservation and vermi-compost, but now courses on waste management have been introduced as a part of the curriculum. “The students are encouraged to take care of the cleanliness around the classrooms and the school premises. The drive is meant to motivate the youth into taking the responsibility of practising cleanliness and we try to do that every day with our students,” he says.

DAV Public School, too, has made small but significant changes in removing the mental block of students towards general cleanliness. Implementing segregation of organic and inorganic waste, compost-waste management and encouraging students creatively towards eco-awareness, the school management has ensured their participation. “The school has always been encouraging a clean premises and healthy habits as per the CBSE norms. Our students have been taking out marches and cleanliness drives, supported by creative campaigns. Since there some students have a mental block about taking up the broom, we encourage them creatively to overcome the issues,” says Sehaj Gulati, a teacher at DAV School.

Several NGOs, too, are focusing on roping in youngsters and students as volunteers for the cleanliness drives. Reason, the young blood will ensure the movement is sustained through a consistent approach and activities. The young volunteers, too, chip in at every step. “Charity begins at home; similarly, cleanliness, too, begins at home,” says Jasmine Bawa, an MBA student at the Global Institute of Mänagemnet and Technology, Batala Road. “Our college premises has installed more dustbins so that students maintain clean surroundings. Regular cleaning campaigns are organised to inculcate healthy habits and students, too, make sure to keep a check on their surroundings,” she says.

The doubts over Swacch Bharat campaign gradually fizzing out can only be cleared by utilising youthful energy. “If we channelise the energy and the resourcefulness of our youth in the right way, there is no doubt that we can achieve the target. One step at a time will prove that the campaign changes the way our city looks,” says Prabhakar.

Amritsar, November 24
In a major catch, the Amritsar rural police arrested Tarn Taran-based notorious gangster Avtar Singh, alias Azgar, along with his accomplice, identified as Sikander Singh, while one of their accomplices, identified as Kanni, escaped.

The police also confiscated 1kg of narcotic powder besides two country-made pistols from them. A fresh case under the NDPS Act and the Arms Act has been registered against them at Jandiala police station.

Jasdeep Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police, Amritsar rural, said the accused was wanted in as many as 13 cases, including three cases of murder. Azgar was declared a proclaimed offender by the court in several cases.

The SSP said that Azgar and his accomplice were arrested from near Gunowal village canal following a specific tip-off. He said the police recovered a .9mm sophisticated pistol with six cartridges and a .12 bore pistol with three rounds from them. Azgar procured the .9mm pistol from Uttar Pradesh for Rs 40,000.

During interrogation, the accused confessed that they had formed a nine-member gang in Tarn Taran and had an old enmity with the ‘Bichhoo’ gang headed by Ajay Kumar Mithu of the Tarn Taran area. He said about nine months ago, they had a bloody clash in the Ranjit Avenue area while earlier this month, they had a clash in the Daburji area. A case under Sections 307, 382, 427 and 34, IPC, has been registered at Sultanwind police station in this connection. They said they used to sell narcotic substances to their clients in order to earn easy money for their activities. The SSP said further investigations were under progress and more seizures were likely to be made in the future.

Residents flout traffic norms in Amritsar. PHOTO: RK SONI

They should follow the traffic rules seriously for their own safety rather than treating them as a mere formality.

Political will

There should be a traffic patrol system to keep a check on policemen deputed at various chowks, to identify the problems and how these could be resolved. Traffic problems could not be resolved without political will. Political interference should be immediately stopped if the government wants to get the city rid of traffic chaos.

Brij Bedi, social worker

Regulation of traffic

More attention should be paid on the regulation of the traffic rather than on just issuing challans. Along with implementation of rules, traffic policemen should also focus on facilitating the public. Until there is proper infrastructure, proper implementation of traffic rules and regulations is not possible.

Dr Balvinder Singh, Conservation Spatial Planner, Guru Ramdas School of Planning, Guru Nanak Dev University

Curb drunken driving

Strict implementation of traffic rules is the only solution to check violations. It is essential to curb over-speeding and drunken driving, besides keeping a vigilant eye on buses entering the city. The behaviour of the people could not be changed without strict enforcement of law.

Gurmeet Singh Bablu, shopkeeper

Construction of subways

There are many accident prone areas in the city. Thanks to the faulty road constructions by the authorities concerned. The authorities have overlooked these areas, which have claimed many lives in the past, especially the youth. The traffic wing has failed to implement the norms in letter and spirit. The authorities should also pay heed towards construction of subways for pedestrians who have to walk on roads as footpaths have been encroached upon by shopkeepers.

Dr Rakesh Kumar, Voice of Amritsar

Courses on traffic norms

The government should include traffic education in the education system. Not only students, parents should also have knowledge of the traffic norms. They should not allow their underage children to drive vehicles. They should also educate them to follow the traffic norms and be responsible citizens. Educational institutes should make courses on traffic as an integral part of their education.

Preetpaul Singh, retired government employee

Amritsar, November 24
The staff at the Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs’ Memorial Civil Hospital was seen confused regarding the inauguration of the new mother and child care centre as they had received no communication about the function that was earlier scheduled for today.

Earlier, senior medical officer Dr Hardeep Singh Ghai had stated that the centre would be inaugurated by Health Minister Surjit Kumar Jyani on November 24.

However, as no one came to inaugurate the 50-bed centre, the officials said there was no point in inaugurating the facility as it was incomplete.

Civil Surgeon Dr Rajiv Bhalla said, “The work on the centre is still going on and it would be completed once the engineering wing is done with their job.”

He denied that the building was scheduled for inauguration today. “We had received no official communication about the inauguration function.”

The government had to face criticism for making hurry for the inauguration event as it has not provided the required staff for the centre.

The centre was proposed to be run with the existing staff of the gynaecology and paediatrics wing of Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs Memorial Civil Hospital.

Astonishingly, deaths of five children at mother and child care centre in Ludhiana were reported just two days after its inauguration by the Health Minister.

However, officials at the city’s Civil Hospital have denied any connection to the Ludhiana incident with the cancellation of the function.

Doctors have said the centre should be inaugurated only when there is enough staff and infrastructure for the centre.

Amritsar, November 24
Even as Guru Nanak Dev Unive rsity is celebrating its foundation day, resentment prevails among the non-teaching employees who maintain that their promotional avenues have been blocked as the university authorities have engaged teaching staff for doing non-teaching work.

They have a grudge that prominent non-teaching departments are being headed by professors from teaching departments and that posts in several non-teaching departments have been lying vacant for long.

Instead of deputing non-teaching employees who deserve to be heads in terms of seniority, the professors in-charge from teaching departments have been given additional charge, an employee said.

Professors have been given extension in their service, to handle the affairs of non-teaching departments, he added.

The other drawback was that the teachers who have been given the charge to handle the non-teaching wings seldom find time to take classes. This also defeats the purpose for which they have been employed, the non-teaching employees said.

They said a professor in-charge has been heading the Department of Public Relations, whereas this post was originally meant for a non-teaching employee, as was the precedent around seven years ago.

The chair of controller of examination is being occupied by a teaching cadre employee. So, is the case with the Life Long Learning Department.

Scores of non-teaching posts have been lying vacant for long. In the Publication Bureau, the posts of managers, assistant managers, section holders, foremen and proof readers have not been filled up.

The post of FDO (finance and development), in-charge of Accounts Department, is lying vacant for a long time and similarly, the post of director of Academic Staff College of the university is yet to be filled.

Clarifying the issue, Registrar Dr Sharanjit Singh Dhillon said professors have been deputed as in-charges of those departments, which directly relate to students.

“Moreover, it was not justified for the non-teaching employees to air their objection that their promotional prospects were defeated by this arrangement. The reason is that professors in-charges are direct appointees. About the issue of FDO’s post lying vacant, I must clarify that I myself handled this post till June 30, 2013, before I assumed charge as Registrar. The deputy registrar, Sukhnandan Singh, has been handling it very efficiently since then,” he said.

Amritsar, November 24
The private firm supplying oxygen cylinders to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital has given an ultimatum to the hospital threatening to stop the supply if its dues were not paid in time. The company has around Rs 21 lakh pending against the hospital for the supply made in the last five months.

Sources said emergency services would collapse if the supply is stopped. The hospital has been getting oxygen gas from Bhullar Gas Industries for the past many years.

Even as the payments were also delayed on a few earlier occasions, it is for the first time that the payment has not been made for five months.

An official in the hospital said there was no problem in disbursing the funds but there had been some technical issues. He said the payment would be disbursed soon. — TNS

Amritsar, November 24
Around 190 students of MBBS, MD and Ph D were conferred degrees in the presence of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal during a convocation function organised by Government Medical College here today.

The Chief Minister also presented a cheque for Rs 1 lakh to Rahul Gupta, who was declared the best graduate student.

While Research and Medical Education Minister Anil Joshi conferred degrees, the Chief Minister honoured meritorious students with medals.

Badal reminded the students of the rich legacy of this medical institute, which has produced seven out of 11 directors of the PGI, Chandigarh.

He said the Government Medical College was the ‘nursery of medical fraternity’ as it has produced several distinguished doctors, who have proved their mettle in the field of medical science.

Badal congratulated students and shared his life’s experience with them.

Listing the initiatives taken by the state government to develop Punjab as a major hub of super-specialty treatment across the globe, the Chief Minister said the setting up of the Homi Bhabha Cancer Treatment and Research Centre at Mullanpur (New Chandigarh) was a right step towards this direction.

Badal said the state government had already made elaborate arrangements to provide state of the art treatment to the patients suffering from cancer at the government medical colleges in Amritsar, Patiala and Faridkot, besides the upcoming ultra-modern cancer treatment centres in Bathinda and Sangrur.

He said the state government had also initiated a cashless treatment scheme for cancer patients, besides making efforts to provide subsidised medicines to them.

The Chief Minister said the state government had already declared a war on drugs and crores of rupees were being spent on the establishment of drug de-addiction centres and rehabilitation centres.

The state government was focusing on imparting training to unemployed youth in the fields of healthcare and para-medics, he said.

It was a matter of great pride for Punjabis that Punjab has became the first ever state to ink a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) in the healthcare sector, he added.

Badal said the MoU with NSDC’s arm Healthcare Sector Skill Council would open new vistas of employment for the youth of the state.

Earlier, Anil Joshi highlighted the need for maintenance fund for the upkeep of building of the medical college. He said user charges collected from the institute should be given for the upkeep of infrastructure.

Fees collected from students should be used for the upkeep of hostels and providing other facilities on the campus, Joshi added.

Amritsar, November 24
Chief Parliamentary Secretary Inderbir Singh Bolaria today paid obeisance at the Golden Temple after his appointment as Youth Akali Dal’s Majha zone president. He also visited the Durgiana Temple and Ram Tirath. Later, he paid tributes to the martyrs at Jallianwala Bagh.

Bolaria said the youth wing would initiate a campaign to save Punjab from the menace of drugs. — TNS