 |
|
| Sunday,
July 8, 2001, Chandigarh, India
|
|
||||
|
Downpour leaves commuters clamouring for boats Ludhiana, July 7 Following showers this morning, passengers were trying to reach the bus stand not on foot, but on rickshaws and auto-rickshaws as about one-and-half foot deep water had accumulated at the main entrance and in the bus stand. Bus drivers were hesitating to park their buses in the bus stand due to the flooding of the bus stand. The rain water from the railway colony behind the bus stand was entering the bus stand, though the officials maintained that due to small pipes, the draining out of water was taking more time. Since neither the Municipal Corporation nor the Punjab Roadways were ready to take any responsibility of the maintenance of the bus stand, the situation was deteriorating every year, said Mr Sanjay Thakur, an employee working at the Himachal Pradesh government juice bar at the bus stand. He said, “I have been working here for the past 11 years, but no one has ever bothered to improve the situation. Now we do not complain at all.” Mr Jagir Singh, a bus
conductor Criticising the state government for the sorry state of bus stand, Mr Vijay Mohan Tandon, a government employee who was waiting for a bus going towards Ropar, said, “Mr Badal should be asked to hold his sangat darshans here. Who will like to come in the city after visiting the bus stand in the monsoon? Do the passengers not deserve better treatment after paying hefty fares and taxes,” he asked. The building of the bus stand had outlived its utility long ago. The Chief Minister had announced a number of times about the constitution of the Bus Stand Authority of Punjab to construct and maintain bus stands in major cities of the state, but nothing had been done so far. According to officials, a proposal had recently been cleared by the government to construct a new bus stand here by the Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA), besides in Jalandhar and Amritsar, but a year had passed and no work had been started so far. Mr Vijay Kumar Singh, a rickshaw-puller at the bus stand, said, “The government is collecting lakhs through parking fees and rent of shops, but it has not bothered to maintain the facilities at the bus stand. Public toilets are always stinking and water leaks are normal after light rain.” Samrala: In view of the heavy rains, special precautionary measures have been taken to control flood-like situation in Bet area of Samrala tehsil. This was disclosed by Ms Raghbir Kaur Khaira, SDM, Samrala, here today. Talking to Ludhiana Tribune, Ms Khaira said a control room had been set up in SDM courts and the employees would keep a 24-hour watch. All veterinary officers had been instructed to keep in touch with the control room and the medical officers of Samrala and Machhiwara had been directed to remain at their headquarters. Two boats had also been received, she disclosed. |
|
Unscheduled holiday, courtesy heavy rain Ludhiana, July 7 The government primary schools on Cinema Road and at Housing Board started on time, but heavy rain that lashed the region at about 8 a.m. soon flooded the schools. Roofs of the unsafe buildings began leaking and filled the rooms with ankle-deep water, which was rising rapidly. The worried school authorities immediately announced the closure of the school to avert any tragedy. The dismal scenario could have been averted had the state government paid heed to the repeated demand of the department to construct new buildings for the schools. At Government Primary School, Cinema Road, nearly 35 of the total 70 students came to the school. The students and teachers had no option but to immediately take shelter inside unsafe rooms. Soon the roofs of the rooms started leaking and rain water started accumulating in these. At 11 a.m. when the rainfall slowed down and it became difficult to confine the children in the water-logged and unsafe rooms, the students of the school were told to go back home. The announcement made the children happy and they immediately rushed out of the school. “I will go home and watch the cricket match,” said Vikram, a student. “I will
go home and watch the cricket match,” said Vikram, a student. “I will go home and tell my mother to prepare kheer
poore,” said another student. After sending the children away, the teachers sat in a staff room, where too the rain water had been seeping in. The teachers said a similar situation had occurred on Tuesday last and they had no option but to send the children back home. “We feel scared to keep children in the three unsafe rooms as their roofs can collapse anytime, especially on a bad weather day,” they said. They said time and again they had pleaded with the District Education Department to help them renovate or reconstruct the building. They said last fortnight they had written to the Deputy Commissioner to do something about the situation, but nothing has been done so far. At Government Primary School, Housing Board, the students were told to go home as water had seeped inside classrooms. There was no space where they could study and hence the children were told to go home. |
|
|
CBI seizes jewellery, cash, documents Ludhiana, July 7 Mr Manmohan Singh has reportedly been summoned by the CBI for further questioning. None of his family members were prepared to tell anything about the raid. However, sources revealed that the 10-member CBI team led by an Inspector took everybody by surprise when they reached G-1 High Income Group flat of Mr Manmohan Singh, located in the posh Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar area on the Ferozepore road. Even neighbours did not have any idea about the raid till late in the afternoon. The team reportedly sealed all entry points into the flat and continued with their operation. Besides searching each and everything in the house, they also grilled Mr Manmohan Singh for several hours during the day. While one of the family members said the team seized some personal jewellery, important documents and cash. The documents are said to be related to various liquor contracts allotted by the Sales Tax Department in Ludhiana. One of the sons of Mr Manmohan Singh studying in ninth standard said, the team entered their house at about 7 am. “After they entered our house they did not allow anybody to move. We were made to stay put at our respective places”, he said. Even the family members were not allowed to prepare food. When the team entered the house, his wife and children were there at that time. None of the family members were allowed to move out till the operation was completed. The raids were carried out in connection with an inquiry being conducted by the investigation agency following the directions from the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The court had ordered probing the nexus between officials of the Sales Tax Department and some hosiery traders and manufacturers for allegedly evading the sales tax. The directive had come in the wake of a writ petition filed by the Patiala Road Carriers following the seizure of some of their trucks by the Excise and Sales Tax Department on charges that these were carrying hosiery goods on which sales tax had not been paid. Mr Manmohan Singh was posted as Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Ludhiana, at the time of seizure of the trucks. It may be recalled that the CBI sealed hosiery goods worth crores of rupees in the Ludhiana railway station on December 5. The seizures were made in the same context as the transport company had alleged that the Railways also used to transport the goods without checking the authenticity of the bills submitted by the hosiery dealers. The standoff between the hosiery dealers and the sales tax officials had continued for quite some time. Usltimately the goods were released only after hosiery dealers and manufacturers paid a penalty to the tune of about Rs 1 crore. There are 18 officers of the Sales Tax Department whose involvement in the sales tax evasion by manufacturers and dealers is being suspected. The CBI is likely to conducted raids on the premises of other officers also who are posted in different parts of the state. |
|
Controller of Exams made scapegoat Ludhiana, July 7 There is growing evidence that the Controller, Dr M.S. Tiwana, has been made a scapegoat and the ‘real’ culprits have so far managed to dodge the axe. Most of the irregularities, it is learnt, were detected during the time of the first evaluation itself but were overlooked at the instance of another prominent member of the examination team. A stitch at that time could have avoided the ugly situation. While the PAU officials were unwilling to come on record on what actually went wrong, inquiries made by Ludhiana Tribune have revealed there were certain black sheep in the CET examination team who did not do their duty honestly due to which not only the students were harassed but the university also would suffer an unwarranted financial burden, besides a loss of image. Informed sources in the evaluation team told Ludhiana Tribune that Dr Tiwana has been shifted merely because he was heading a team which was not performing duties assigned to them properly. Though Dr Tiwana did not want to speak to the Press and said that as the head he shouldered the responsibility, the sources indicate that a mischief was played by certain team members opposing his appointment as the Controller. It has been learnt that Dr Tiwana, though responsible for the conduct of the examination, was not taken in confidence before the appointment of the committee members. All appointments were made without his knowledge. After receiving letters about the irregularities in the test, the university re-evaluated it in less than four hours to know the truth. As there was glaring variation in the merit list, the university first decided to announce the revised list but later after a high-level meeting agreed to re-conduct the test altogether. An evaluator who did not wish to be quoted claimed that the mistake in certain questions was detected at the time of the first evaluation but a senior official of the CET team (not Dr Tiwana) impressed over others to overlook it. Citing Question No. 14 in the physics paper he said the answer had four choices including a) 3 months c) 4 months(misprint c instead of b) c) 8 months and d0 12 months. He said that the correct answer was 8 months. “But we were told by a senior official to give credit even if someone has given answer as c) 4 months because it was given in the solution key. We did the same in many cases. But it was injustice. This was wrong to give credit for the wrong answer especially when there was negative marking and when the students had chances of losing the seats for a single mark.” said the evaluator. Another evaluator said that in some questions the right answer was missing in the multiple choices. The students had no option but to tick the wrong answer or to leave the question unattempted. “Some students had even written on the question paper with a pen that the option, which was the right answer, was not included in the multiple choices given against the question. They were smart enough to write the correct answer but no marks were given,” said another evaluator. |
|
Traffic cops ‘immobilised’ Ludhiana, July 7 Not only this but the much publicised supply of radar guns to check over-speeding vehicles as well as breath analysers to check tipsy drivers also remain in the paper only. Besides these, the ambitious drive of installing cameras at main road crossings also seems to have been forgotten as the vans in which the cameras were installed are seldom seen anywhere. According to sources, they remain stationed near the traffic police office in the police lines. While on one side there was this aspect of the traffic problem in which due to the lack of infrastructure, clever as well as powerful people, who can dare to violate traffic rules, manage to run away unchallenged, on the other hand a number of unsavoury incidents involving the traffic cop and common men have also taken place. In one such incident that took place near Lakshmi Cinema recently, a traffic cop entered into an argument with a patwari. While the cop was charging the man of violating a traffic rule, the patwari said he had not violated any rule and also asked the cop why they always took action against the common persons only. The matter was solved after the intervention of senior officials only. In another incident, a member of a Gurdwara committee had dispute with the police on some traffic violation. The matter aggravated as a number of other members of the Gurdwara came to the scene. The matter was again resolved at the intervention of senior officials. Similarly, two days ago on the Tajpur road, a traffic cop began hitting passersby with a stick to clear a jam. One of the victims, however, refused to take it lying down and hit him back. Soon a commotion took place with other traffic cops coming to the cop’s rescue and other passersby by coming to the victim’s aid. Later, the passersby sit on a dharna which was lifted only after the cop apologised for his act. |
|
AIATF to take to legal recourse
for Chohan’s arrest Ludhiana, July 7 This was disclosed by the AIATF chairman and former President of the Youth Congress, Mr Maninderjit Singh Bitta, in an exclusive interview with Ludhiana Tribune here last night. Mr Bitta, who had come to attend a private function in Aggar Nagar here, told that the front would not resort to any agitation or
other form of protest, to put pressure on the government as the return of Dr Chohan was more or less facilitated by the judiciary and the SAD-BJP government, had a limited role to play in this matter. He, however, reiterated his organisation’s commitment to carry on its campaign against terrorism and other anti-national activities and to extend all possible assistance to victims of terrorism. “The AIATF has undertaken a massive drive to honour freedom fighters and accord due recognition to men in uniform, who have fought militants and defended the frontiers of the country,” he said. A national-level conference would be held in New Delhi on August 14, in which heroes of the freedom struggle, veterans of the Indian National Army, associates of Mahatma Gandhi, activists of the Sarvodaya Movement and war heroes would be honoured. Mr Bitta, refused to comment on the political scenario in Punjab and the factionalism in the Congress. He said he stood by his earlier decision of staying away from electoral politics and maintaining the ‘non-political’ nature of the AIATF. “I have taken a vow not to contest election,” he added. |
|
Rattan, Noor
honoured Ludhiana, July 7 The Sahitkar Sadan of Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle organised a literary meet with Dr Rattan who narrated his life experiences in very touching manner. He said that the bloody scenes of 1947 division can never be deleted from the memory when he came to India by the last train from Okara (now in Pakistan). Dr Rattan studied at Nakodar and Jalandhar and was awarded scholarship throughout his schooling days. He became a cycle mechanic when his father used to pull rickshaw. Dr Rattan served as News Editor in ‘Jathedar’ run by Master Tara Singh where Mr Buta Singh, a former Home Minister of India, then was serving as an Editor. Dr Rattan used to write poems, short stories and other literary pieces for children and women. He served Lyalpur Khalsa College in Jalandhar then Sikh National College,
Banga, till 1972. Later, he joined the board as Medium Expert. Dr Rattan has six poetry books to his credit, 18 ‘Safarnamas’ (two published, 16 unpublished), has edited 60 books and three periodicals of the board. Dr Rattan was honoured by the sadan with a
saropa, a beautiful picture of Shri Harmander Sahib and a set of books. Bhai S.S. Noor was honoured for his contribution towards Gurdas library. |
|||
Where bumpy rides are
routine Ludhiana, July 7 As one goes along the city roads, irrespective of the locality, potholed, bumpy, broken and patched roads is what one comes across. There are some exceptions, as a few roads in selective areas, are resurfaced again and again and premix laid after short intervals, but that is not the fate of majority of the roads. Even in colonies like Sarabha Nagar, Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar, Model Town, Model Town Extension, Tagore Nagar, Kitchlu Nagar, Civil Lines and many other localities, the roads are poorly maintained, sparingly repaired and rarely resurfaced. Frequent digging of roads for laying sewerage pipes, water lines, telephone cables and road cutting for various other purposes by different government departments and private individuals further compounds the problem as the roads are normally not restored. Lack of coordination between different departments, which need to dig out roads, is a rule rather than an exception. According to sources in the MC, each of the city wards in outer area (undeveloped and underdeveloped colonies) gets around Rs 70 lakh while other wards in the city get Rs 40 lakh, which makes something between Rs 35 and 40 crore every year for the construction and maintenance of roads in 70 wards in the city. The pathetic condition, the city roads are in hardly justifies the whopping drain on the scarce resources of the civic body. During the monsoon, the condition of the city roads has to be experienced to be believed. The roads, dotted with potholes, damaged berms and uneven surfaces, become difficult, if not impossible, to traverse. People have to wade through puddles of water and slush and vehicles get struck. More often than not, the accumulated water on road and streets enters houses and commercial establishments because the level of many a road has risen due to repeated resurfacing. The MC officials point out that accumulation of rain water on roads and tarred streets, mainly due to poor or no storm water drainage system, not only brings normal life to a grinding halt, but causes enormous damage to premix laid on the road surface. At times, the compacted sand underneath the road as well as the berms are washed away and the road surface becomes uneven. Reliable sources further reveal that as a result of conniving MC contractors and senior officials of the civic body, the quality of construction of new roads and resurfacing of existing ones leaves much to be desired. There have been some instances of odering of inquiry in response to complaints of poor workmanship or use of substandard material for construction of roads, but the situation, remains the same. |
|
Failure of sewerage, drainage blamed on civic body Ludhiana, July 7 The DYC President, Mr Parminder Mehta, who toured the affected colonies on Rahon Road, said that in the absence of proper sewerage in the city areas, a sizeable section of the population had made provisions
for sewerage pits which, in turn, had polluted ground water in a large area. The disposal of untreated effluent by the dyeing factories in these colonies, and stagnating pools of poisonous discharge had precipitated the situation. Ground water in numerous localities had been rendered unfit for human consumption. Mr Mehta observed that the MC administration had failed to realise the enormity of the situation and their failure to take timely remedial measures had led to a crisis-like situation. The incidence of gastro-enteritis and cholera had assumed alarming proportions and two deaths have already been reported from a local hospital. MC officials, he added, had not even bothered to visit the affected areas and no apparent preventive steps were being taken to check water-borne diseases or to improve the quality of drinking water. The DYC President questioned the reported decision of the MC to entrust the job of maintenance of sewerage and drainage to private parties, saying that if the MC administration was clueless in the given infrastructural set-up, what could the private contractors do to improve the situation. He asked the MC top brass to identify the erring officials and take stern action against them. Mr Mehta also made an appeal to the district authorities to immediately intervene and initiate measures for disposal of accumulated rain water from city localities on a war footing. The MC health department and the health administration also needed to be pulled up in order to ensure that adequate preventive steps were taken against water-borne diseases. |
|
Special dresses for the
handicapped Ludhiana, July 7 The girls went round various organisations to interact with the physically handicapped persons and studied their problems for months, and then under the guidance of Ms Raminder Kaur, Assistant Professor, they designed clothes. keeping in mind the needs of different kinds of handicaps. They identified the handicaps and the special clothes the handicapped persons required, such as special trousers for calliper users, trousers for those using hands and knees, for the ones using crawlers, for users of crutches, shirts for the wheelchair user, and so on. Since each handicap was different from the other, each garment had to be of a different design. The trousers for a calliper user had to have two-way full length zippers to enable the wearer to slip into the garment. Similarly a special kind of shirt had to be designed for a person with reduced arm mobility. The three students were satisfied with the response to the garments designed by them for the handicapped persons. Neha said:” It was satisfying to see their joy at having clothes that they could wear without any assistance or discomfort. Moreover, since the clothes hid their deformities, they felt more confident. They were happy that at last someone had thought of garments that they required. |
|
Postponement of star
nite draws public fury Ludhiana, July 7 The show was first announced to be organised on June 23. It was postponed to June 30 and then again to July 7. It was again postponed to sometime in October yesterday. Though the organisers maintain that the show has been cancelled twice due to problem of dates faced by the stars, sources indicate that the repeated postponement has been because the organisers were not able to collect about Rs 75 lakh required for the show. The amount includes payment to stars as well as expenses of the show. The organisers are said to have
managed to collect only Rs 30 lakh. Due to shortage of funds, the event has been postponed twice, with the organisers hoping that the remaining amount will be collected through the sale of tickets. Sources say industrialists, bureacurats and politicians have made a beeline to the organisers, seeking free entry passes. The rush for free passes has been tremendous and in case of some resistance they have had to face pressure. The president of the Ludhiana Samaj Sewak, Mr Gurjinder Singh, has demanded a high-level inquiry into the postponement. A press release of the organisers has clarified that the organisers are refunding the ticket money, but the money taken under a certain scheme will not be refunded as these tickets will be valid in October. |
|
Water found unfit for consumption Ludhiana, July 7 A resident of the locality, Mr Iqbal Singh, who had given a water sample from the locality to the Civil Surgeon for testing, had been informed about the dangers of drinking the handpump water in the locality. According to a communication from the Civil Surgeon’s office, the water had been found to be bacteriologically unfit. It suggested that water for drinking should either be taken from an MC tap or the handpump water should be treated with chlorine tablets in the right proportion. The MC authorities sent 50,000 chlorine tablets to the area, which were yet to be distributed in the locality. Despite this, there was grave danger of a serious water-borne diseases spreading in the locality during the current monsoon. |
|
Flood-control
measures sought Ludhiana, July 7 The samiti drew the MP’s attention to the fact that in recent rain in the city, all low-lying areas of the city were inundated due to choking of the storm water drainage system in the city. As a result of rain water getting into shops and godowns, shopkeepers suffered losses worth crores. |
Three booked for
gambling Ludhiana, July 7 Fraud case Case registered Dowry case Four booked SAHNEWAL One killed Man
dies SAMRALA Five injured JAGRAON Gambler booked Woman dies of
burns Fake currency
found |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 121 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
