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| Thursday,
June 20, 2002, Chandigarh, India
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Gill is Mayor, Mittal Senior Deputy Mayor Ludhiana, June 19 Mr Prem Mittal, a former Deputy Mayor (1992-97), became the Senior Deputy Mayor by defeating his rival, Mr Satnam Singh Ahuja, in election. Ms Sushil Gupta beat Mr Hans Raj in the race to the chair of the Deputy Mayor. Mr Mittal got 41 votes against 33 cast in favour of Mr Ahuja. Ms Gupta received 42 votes against 32 that her rival got. Earlier, the combine of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal), the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Ludhiana Development Alliance achieved a minor victory when, acting on a writ petition filed by it in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, a Division Bench comprising Mr Justice Swatantar Kumar and Mr Justice Jasbir Singh stayed the election of the Mayor by a show of hands. Consequently, the elections to the three top posts of the MC were held through a secret ballot, as provided in the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation (Procedure and Conduct of Business) Regulations of 1978. The fax message containing the High Court decision was received in the MC office only just in time for the civic administration to hurriedly put together the required material like ballot boxes and ballot papers. Tables turned on the Congress opponents, who desperately wanted a secret ballot to keep alive any hope of cross voting by the Congress dissidents, when four of their members voted in favour of the Congress to elect the Mayor. The Congress has 37 councillors, which, along with five party legislators, gives it a strength of 42 in the House. Even though the Minister of State for Printing and Stationery, Mr Rakesh Pandey, abstained from the voting, Mr Gill still received 45 votes. The elections got delayed by about 75 minutes, as the Divisional Commissioner, Mr Chander Shekhar Srivastava, who was to preside over, arrived late. Mr Jagjit Singh, Minister for Local Government; Mr Lal Singh, Finance Minister; and Mr Gurcharan Singh Ghalib, Member of Parliament;
were also present there. The security at the MC headquarters was tight, with mounted police at the main gate. Only the councillors, legislators and reporters were allowed in, whereas supporters of the candidates were kept a little away. The restless crowd raised slogans and Mr Sat Pal Gosain, a former deputy speaker, and Mr Avtar Singh Makkar, president of the district unit of the SAD (B), staged a sit-in at the main gate of the MC office, alleging that they had been discriminated against, as Mr K.K. Bawa and Mr Gurdev Singh Lapran, presidents of the urban and rural cells of state Congress, respectively, had been allowed in. Sensing trouble, the MC Commissioner, Mr S.K. Sharma, asked every protester to leave. Mr Srivastava urged the most senior member of the House, Mr Surjit Singh Ahluwalia, to preside over and conduct the election to the post of the Mayor. After Mr Gill was declared elected, he was asked to take over and conduct the elections to the posts of his deputies. |
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Tension in village over disposal of sewage Khanna, June 19 According to information four acre area had been proposed by panchayat some time ago for the storage of sewage. If sewage line was laid to this place which is situated at the lower level which may effect the residents known to be the supporters of the village sarpanch. It is alleged that they forced the sarpanch to change the place. After which the sarpanch decided for the controversial place. The controversial area is adjacent to the residence of noted Punjabi singer Sardool Sikandar, who also tried to stop the village panchayat but in vain. Randhir Singh, a resident of the area, alleged that his land was also being dug by the panchayat. He said the land was marked by the revenue officials but the panchayat had thrown away the marked stones. He alleged when he tried to stop them was taken in police custody. Another resident Charanjit Singh alleged that this move of panchayat would create serious health problems for the residents and students of the school . He said he was threatened when he opposed the move. However, the sarpanch of the village, Ms Satwant Kaur, claimed that the controversial plot falls under panchayat. She said only two or three persons were opposing the move. She said a boundary wall would be built around the religious place. She favoured the move. According to the notice served by the MC the said land came under the Municipal Council wide notification No 12091 (dated October 23, 1998) of the local government, Punjab. The executive officer of MC directed village sarpanch to stop the digging of pond. Copies of the notice were sent to SDM, Khanna, and Block Development and Panchayat Officer for further action. When contacted the SDM, Khanna, Mr Gurloveleen Singh Sidhu said he had no knowledge about the matter. Angry residents threatened to start an agitation if the work was not stopped immediately. |
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Stagnant water has residents
fuming Ludhiana, June 19 The water has been accumulating on this road for more than six months and till date potholes remained full of water. Moreover, during rainy season water overflows towards industrial units on both sides of the road. Apart from poor drainage system, the other major reason of accumulating water is the rising level of the road. When this road was constructed, a few years back, the factories on both sides of the road were two feet above the road. Now the road is about one-and-a-half foot above the existing level of the factories. Moreover, the drainage system beneath the road has ruptured. While talking to Ludhiana Tribune, Mr Sant Singh, a local industrialist, said: “The place is stinking for more than six months. Despite a number of verbal and non-verbal complaints to the authorities concerned, nothing substantial has been done so far. The only solution to the problem is an effective drainage
system”. |
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2 cleaners die in sewer line Ludhiana, June 19 Both of them reportedly went in a sewer line, in Phase VI of the Focal Point area to clear it. Both of them died on way to Oswal Hospital. While two other labourers affected from poisonous gases are under observation. The sources said they were out of danger now. The labourers were working with the Sunny Enterprises, the firm having the contract of sewerage maintenance in the area. The sources said this afternoon the private company had deployed the workers for cleaning a blocked sewer line in the said area. |
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Pre-monsoon showers bring relief Ludhiana, June 19 According to weather experts of PAU, the maximum and minimum temperature recorded in the city in the recent days has come down. They have predicted that partly overcast conditions are likely to continue for the next few days and light showers are also expected. Talking to Ludhiana Tribune, a cross section of farmers said the weather had brought some respite for them. They said they were in the process of transplanting paddy and the rain had brought cheers for them. They said it was a good time for paddy transplantation. Mr J.N. Sachdeva, Chief Engineer, Punjab State Electricity Board, said though there was some respite from heat, yet the rural and the industrial demand for electricity was not likely to decrease. Meanwhile, the city doctors have warned that these spells of rain may lead to stomach problems and water-borne diseases. Dr Gursharan Singh, president of the local unit of the Indian Medical Association, said patients complaining of water-borne diseases had started pouring in hospitals and private clinics. Dr Waheguru Pal Singh, Medical Superintendent, Guru Teg Bahadur Charitable Hospital, said though the number of patients with water-borne diseases had not reached an alarming proportion, but several gastroenteritis cases had been reported in the hospital in recent days. |
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Erring staff to
face action Ludhiana, June 19 He said it had been seen that the employees raised frivilous objections while attending to complaints of the people causing unwarranted delay and unnecessary harassment. All this was reportedly being done for “ulterior motives”, he added. Earlier, he presided over a meeting attended by the Executive Officer, both the Trust Engineers and staff of the trust. It was noticed that recovery of arrears amounting to lakhs of rupees was pending in various schemes of the trust which needed to be expedited. There were a number of encroachments on the trust land which needed to be removed expeditiously. However, there were numerous court cases pending in various courts regarding encroachment on trust lands. The Administrator said it was observed that the public was being harassed on account of non-execution of transfer deeds and sale deeds. A number of frivolous objections were raised by the staff concerned which put the public to inconvenience. From now on, the Administrator said, the cases concerning transfer deeds and sale deeds of properties should not take more than 10 days. This fact would be highlighted through the media and notices placed at the office creating awareness among the people. Besides this, the allottees would be motivated to get the transfer deeds and sale deeds executed from the trust office. The only objection raised before execution of sale deeds are pendency of arrears and
violation of bylaws of the trust. It was also decided that the Assistant Trust Engineer shall personally issue no violation certificates in case of sale deeds to be executed. However, this fact must be explained to the allottees clearly, he said. Another major discrepancy noticed was that the correspondence issued by the trust in the name of allottees was allegedly mishandled. In most of the cases, the letters were despatched but were not actually sent because of “ulterior motives”. Mr Singh clarified that in such cases, the guilty employee will not only face departmental action but the matter would be reported to the police for the registration of an FIR. The public has every right to know about the fate of their cases and if any complaint is received regarding concealment of information, the same shall be dealt with very seriously, he asserted. The staff has also been directed to effect the recovery on priority basis by issuing notices to the allottees who have not deposited their dues. In case where 1/4th of the total amount has not been received, it was decided that forfeiture of the property should be done after issuance of legal notices, he said. |
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Park maintenance panels not paid
funds Ludhiana, June 19 The association of park management committees has opposed the move of the government for fixing up the grant for each park. Earlier, under this scheme each committee was being paid Re 1 per square metre every month. The association has demanded to increase the rate of the grant to Rs 1.20 per square metre. A delegation of members and office-bearers of the committees met the Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Mr S.K. Sharma, here recently and gave a memorandum to him regarding their problems and demands. Mr Sharma, however, assured the delegation that necessary action would be taken at the earliest. Mr L.R. Khera, general secretary, Tagore Nagar Association, said: “A lot of fund is required for the purchase of tools, plants, watering pipes, pesticides, repairs of grills and gates by the committees for which the committees are getting nothing.” He said: “Now the problem is that the state government has asked the Municipal Corporation to pay Rs 1,000 per month to each park as wages of gardeners without any consideration of the area of the park. The size of the parks vary from 113 square metre to 22,157 square metre and it would be difficult to maintain such big parks with just Rs 1,000.” |
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Ensure funds for
works, MCs told Khanna, June 19 In a letter written to the Regional Deputy Directors, Local Government, Punjab, he said it had come to his notice that some civic bodies were indulging in financial indiscipline by starting development projects without adequate availability of funds. He said legal notices had been received by the government from contractors for non-payment of outstanding bills and the failure of the civic bodies to discharge their liabilities. He has directed the civic bodies that all resolutions passed by them to start a development project should not only state the existence of a budgetary provision but also detail the project’s financial arrangements, cumulative undischarged liabilities and a certificate to the effect that the expenditure on a new project would not affect the payment of salaries, operation and maintenance of drinking water and sewerage facilities and the timely repayment of loans. He also directed commissioners of corporations and executive officers of the other civic bodies to furnish certificates while forwarding resolutions of the civic bodies to the government. |
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CABLE OPERATORS’ PROTEST Ludhiana, June 19 According to a press note issued here today, the president of the association, Mr Raman Maini said, “Ten Sports has got the rights to broadcast the ongoing Soccer World Cup and apart from this major international event, the channel is not broadcasting any other major sports
programme.” He disclosed, “Since the channel has the rights to broadcast the World Cup Football, it was demanding subscription fee for one year instead of one month as the championship was to be concluded in just one month.” Mr Maini stated that when the local cable companies demanded decoders to downlink their programmes, the company did not provide these and demanded the connectivity of more subscribers than the present numbers. He further stated, “all small cable operators have given written applications to their cable companies concerned including, Win Cable, Siti Cable and Siti Home Company for boycotting Ten Sports Channel.” It was alleged that the officials of the Ten Sports channel had taken unnecessary and wrong action against some of members of association. Mr Maini asserted that they would not stop their agitation till they got the justice. |
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Telecom
engineers begin stir Ludhiana, June 19 A large number of engineering officers went on a strike here today and took out a massive rally. The TEOA has decided to continue the strike as long as the officials concerned are not punished and shifted out of the state, according to the district secretary of the association, Mr Sanjeev Kumar. |
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J&K official apprised of yatris’ problems Ludhiana, June 19 Talking to TNS on telephone from Srinagar, Mr Rajinder Sharma, president of the board, a delegation led by him had impressed on the Adviser that the tax had been hiked from Rs 200 to Rs 2, 000. This was on the higher side, especially for
yatris, who were entering the state solely for paying obeisance at the shrine. He said they urged the officer that adequate security and basic facilities at halting places — like water and toilets — would be provided. More langar samities should also be allowed to set up langars en route the cave. Mr Sharma said Mr Jaitely assured them that needful would be done. |
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Without water
for a week Sahnewal, June 19 Villages like Pawa Khakat and Jugiana have been literally without water as the water supply has been cut by electricity board employees due to the non-payment of bills by the authorities concerned. |
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Beopar mandal criticises
steep toll charge Ludhiana, June 19 According to Mr Mohinder Aggarwal, general secretary of the mandal, the toll fee was very high and it would entail an additional burden on the commuters who use the highway many times a day. Although the private contractor will provide basic amenities and facilities in case of a breakdown, yet the one way charge of Rs 45 for a car, jeep and van, Rs 80 for light transport vehicle, Rs 160 for truck and buses and Rs 340 for heavy construction machinery was totally unreasonable, he pointed out. The contract has been given to a single firm which will also charge additional fees at the entry points at Shambhu and Karnal. The cost of travel, especially in this 100 km stretch, to Delhi will increase manifold, he added. |
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