The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Is this city going to seed? Skewed urbanisation, lopsided development, traffic chaos and lack of eco-friendly approach, the city’s changing scenario is a cause for concern. Jalandhar Plus team talked to a cross-section of people to know their views on what ails the city and who is responsible for the civic mess. Mr Gurpreet Singh, a businessman, believes that the plan for expansion of the city which the authorities have been following could prove to be detrimental for city residents. “There are multi-storey shopping complexes but there are no parking lots around the areas. There are colonies with houses all around but there are no parks for the children to play,” he says. He says that such a haphazard growth has been taking place because leaders, politicians and bureaucrats dictate every developmental step in the city. “Not just that, even councillors are bothered about the repair work on roads leading to their house. Various other lanes that have potholes remain untouched for years,” he says. He adds that there is a need to bring about a change in the mindsets of the higher authorities. Traffic bottlenecks are the sore spot for Mr Atul Kalia, an employee with a private firm. He blames the lackadaisical attitude of the Municipal Corporation Jalandhar (MCJ) authorities for not being able to regulate the movement of vehicles. “The corporation had recently ordered demolition of various roundabouts in the city that have been replaced with the traffic lights. The MCJ has spent lakhs of rupees in completion of the project, but it things have not worked well. The traffic lights were equipped with timers which have now become non-functional. Above all, the project has hardly solved the purpose of controlling traffic on various intersections, including those at BMC Chowk and Guru Nanak Mission Chowk.” However, Mr Sukhwinder Singh Ahluwalia, businessman, blames the city police for frequent traffic jams in the city. Traffic jams often happen on the GT Road, where private buses keep stopping at every chowk for getting more passengers. The condition is the worst at PAP Chowk which has been literally working as the second bus stand of the city, as buses stop on all sides of the intersection there and scores of passengers board the buses every minute. “This often leads to accidents and that, too, in the presence of police personnel who remain mute spectators to such incidents,” he says. Interestingly, the city lawyers have spearheaded their campaign against the unregulated growth in the city by filing the first-ever Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against the six departments, including Ministry of Environmental and Pollution Control, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Local Bodies and Urban Development, Department of Home Affairs and Municipal Corporation. Mr Birenderjit Singh Shelly, along with five other lawyers, has complained of mushrooming of illegal colonies, broken roads, improper sanitation facilities at public places, ineffective method for garbage disposal, ill-maintained street lights and lack of parking facilities. Dr Nachhatar Singh, Principal, Agriculture Cooperative Staff Training Institute, says that lifestyle changes have given rise to various problems, including those of noise pollution. “Drivers use pressure horns in their vehicles with impunity. Youngsters play music aloud in their cars,” he explains. “Moral degradation has also crept within the social lives of the residents. Competitiveness and career consciousness has led to rivalry among students of local schools and colleges. The bonds within family have broken, causing frequent rifts and even separation among its members,” he adds. Dr Sanjeev Sharma, vice-president of the Indian Medical Association, says, “I have seen the city expand in the last 35 years, but there has been a major change in the last decade. The green cover has decreased. No new parks have come up in the city, while the old ones are hardly maintained well. The removal of colourful roundabouts at Football Chowk, BMC Chowk and Guru Nanak Mission Chowk has been a hasty decision that has resulted in traffic mismanagement. Traffic cops often abstain from their duties.” The city looks beautiful only after midnight and before 7 am when there is no traffic chaos, he adds. Ms Mamta Demaney, employed with Lovely Institutes, explains, “The city has developed very fast as far as the growth of educational and medical institutions is concerned. The city youth, who had to move out of the city for higher education, now remain confined to the city. But, on the flip side, the city has been witnessing traffic congestion and rise in the number of illegal residential colonies.” Mr Suresh Kumar, an international hockey empire, says, “The number of vehicles plying on the city roads has gone up. While just a few cycles could be seen on the city roads till the last few decades, utter chaos now prevails with thousands of two- and four-wheelers moving on the roads. The MCJ has failed to construct flyovers on railway crossings outside DAV College and Lyallpur Khalsa College. This often leads to traffic jams.” Pollution level in the air is also on the rise with three-wheelers emitting poisonous gases, he adds. However, Ms Anshula Razdan, a student, feels that people are responsible for the chaos in the city. “You will often see people littering the roads. If they have a banana peel to throw, it goes plop on the road. People are hardly bothered about the consequences of their actions. She adds that it is imperative for people to take charge of their environment, if the city has to be “saved”. Mr Vimal Dev Sethi, a lecturer, too, puts the blame on people’s lack of civic sense. “Why do we wait for government or authorities to make our surroundings liveable? Why can’t we take the initiative? Of course, policies are implemented by authorities and the latter have their share of faults. But I believe in proactive approach. Let us be responsible residents of the city,” he says. Mr Sunny Gill, a city resident, says that both city residents and authorities are responsible in equal measure for the ills plaguing the city. “It’s not easy to catalogue the problems, but one of the major problems has been that of drinking water. It’s sad that even today, clean drinking water is a luxury for many city residents. Traffic chaos is yet another problem. It seems people are not aware of traffic rules. My suggestion is that students should be taught traffic rules in their curriculum.”
	A slice of history Gopal Singh Quami’s 13-yr incarceration Minna Zutshi Tribune News Service He spent 13 long years of his life in prison. But till his last day, he did not regret even for a moment his ideology that had made prison a second home to him. After all, he was a freedom fighter whose mission in life was to fight the British out of his motherland. He started the "Aazad Akali", a newspaper that revelled in revolutionary writings (and that, predictably, was banned by the British). This man, Gopal Singh Quami, was born in the year 1897 at Garh Fetehshah, Lyallpur. He was, for the first time, arrested in Bilga village in Jalandhar for taking part in the Babbar Akali Movement. A series of his arrests followed. In 1923, he was arrested and imprisoned for two years, and fined Rs 2000 for making inflammatory speech. He was one of the members of the Enquiry Committee appointed by the Punjab Pradesh Congress to enquire into the atrocities committed by the British against the Babbar Akalis. The committee had yet to arrive at a decision when Quami was put behind bars again. "It was as if the British were playing hide- and-seek with his liberty. In 1928, he was imprisoned again for two years. He was confined in Mianwali Jail. Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh was also lodged there. Quami, along with other freedom fighters, remained on 64-day hunger strike to press the authorities to give better treatment to political prisoners," says Mr Maninder Singh Quami, the freedom fighter's grandson. During the Quit India Movement, Gopal Singh Quami was imprisoned for three years in Mianwali, Multan, Ambala and Sialkot jails. His wife died during his stay in the jails. A man who hated to mince words, he was also in the forefront to protest against the British ban on the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee. Interestingly, this freedom fighter's statue was unveiled at Rainak Bazaar Chowk here last Sunday, after years of dillydallying. Perhaps, it takes a good number of years to become alive to the freedom fighters' sagas!
	Ambidextrous boy Anil Jerath Tribune News Service Childhood is just like a plain paper. Whatever is taught well to children stays with them throughout their lives. This has been the case with Manpreet Singh. He was in class IV in Carol Grove School. His teacher, Ms Narinder Kaur, inspired him to write with both hands. There was no looking back for Manpreet, when the school principal told him the same thing. He started practising writing with both hands and he mastered this art at the age of 14. He can write in Hindi and Punjabi languages simultaneously, and in English language, it is straight and reverse writing that he has mastered. He got the distinction of writing Hanuman Chalisa on two pieces of paper in one go. He has been remarkably good at studies also. "Concentration is the key. Without concentration, you cannot do anything," says Manpreet. He has received many awards for his feat.He is presently working as a computer operator.
	From the Schools Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service An inter-house paper reading contest was held to mark the Earth Day celebrations at Sanskriti KMV School on Friday. The participants showed deep concern about flora and fauna. The students discussed various topics pertaining to pollution, deforestation and wastage of water. In senior category, Arjun Sharma, Ashin and Gagnish Saini stood first, second and third, respectively. In junior category, Kanupriya stood first. Simran Plaha and Rahul Jain shared second position. Damanpreet was declared third. Ms Usha Pandey, Principal, gave prizes to the students. Earth Day The World Earth Day was observed at Apeejay School, Model Town, on Friday. Students were told to keep the planet pollution-free to make it a better place for living. The students recited poems which impressed upon the tiny tots to stop the felling of trees and which focused on the need to enhance the area under the green cover. Lecture Brig Sukhjit Singh, grandson of the erstwhile Maharaja of Kapurthala, organised a lecture for the students of Sainik School, Kapurthala, on Wednesday. Encouraging the students to adopt a career in defence, he offered them various tips that could help them achieve their target. Principal, Col Sandeep Kumar, said that the interaction was held so as to encourage the students to adopt a career in the armed forces. Science City visit The management of Saffron Public School, Phagwara, organised a fun-filled visit of its students to Pushpa Gujral Science City on Saturday. The visit provided an opportunity for open-ended exploration away from classrooms and textbooks. The students were thrilled to enjoy the ride on flight simulator. They also viewed shows in 3-D dome theatre and laser theatre. Flower contest A flower arrangement contest was held at Lawrence International School on Saturday. The students of classes III and XII took keen interest in the show. The students used different themes to depict nature. While some exhibited the horrors of Kargil War, others portrayed the need to preserve nature. Mr V.K. Mehta, Principal, told the students to live in harmony with nature. SPICMACAY show A programme of classical music (vocal) was organised by SPICMACAY at MGN Public School, Adarsh Nagar, and Police DAV Public School, Jalandhar Cantonment, on Friday. The popular duo singers Ritesh Mishra and Rajnish Mishra enthralled the audience with their melodious voices. The programme was held for promoting cultural awareness among the students of the schools.
	Weekly Round-up The Bank of India organised a function to bid farewell to its chairman-cum-managing director, Mr M.Venugopalan, here on Monday. Mr A.K. Jalota, DGM, said that Mr Venugopalan had joined the bank in 1966 and moved up the bank's hierarchy in leaps and bounds through exceptional talent and capabilities to ultimately become its chairman. Mr Venugopalan, in his address, advocated the move to merge public sector banks, terming the same as the lasting solution to further strengthen the banking sector. The farewell programme was also addressed by Mr S.K. Dhawan, AGM, Ludhiana Zone. SAD (A) team The SAD (Amritsar) has appointed Mr Satnam Singh Sandhu and Mr Sukhwinder Singh Khalsa as president and working president of Jalandhar (Rural) unit of the party. The national general secretary of the party, Dr Harjinder Singh Jakhu, while addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, said that Sarabjit Singh Bajooha, Nirmal Singh Bolina, Makhan Singh and Daljeet Singh Bilga were appointed as senior vice-presidents. The general secretaries of the district unit include Yugraj Singh, Manohar Singh Lasara, Sukhjit Singh Daroli, Avtar Singh Aneja and Balkar Singh Shahkot. The list of office bearers includes six vice-presidents — Karam Singh, Sulakhan Singh, Ravinder Singh, Phumman Singh and Bapu Mohinder Singh. Protest The employees of the Oriental Bank of Commerce observed strike on Monday to register their protest against the move of the Central Government to bring down its capital in public sector banks to 51 per cent and to encourage private capital in the public sector banks up to 49 per cent. The employees alleged that it would result in ownership control and management going into the hands of private players. The failure of the bank management and the government to recover NPAs to the tune of over Rs 2500 crore had badly affected the functioning of the bank, they added. Award The Global Economic Council has decided to confer "Rashtriya Ekta Award" upon Mr Iqbal Singh Khera, an NRI and chairman of the Ber Sahib Trust, for his contribution to the field of education during the National Unity and Economic Development Conference scheduled to be held at Chandigarh on May 25. Mr Khera is credited with running 20 schools in rural areas of Kapurthala district. He has also set up a 500-bed hospital at Khaira Dona village.