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MC House meeting likely to be stormy
District Transport Dept bending law?
3 children taken ill after consuming milk
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Filling stations drying up in state
196 caskets of liquor seized
10 kg of poppy husk recovered
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MC House meeting likely to be stormy
Jalandhar, March 6 While the main agenda of the meeting, scheduled to be held on March 13, pertains to discussion over the annual budget, the leader of the Opposition, Mr Krishan Dev Bhandari, has said he would raise a series of questions over the allocation of projects to private constructors at prices allegedly much higher than in the market. Mr Bhandari also pointed out that the MC could have earned lakhs of rupees through advertisements on the newly-constructed footbridges, where the private companies put up their hoardings to advertise their products or services. He said he had levelled these allegations on the basis of the details of the BOT projects that he had sought from the office of the MC Commissioner, Mr S.S. Johl. Giving details of the projects, where he suspected some “foul play”, he said the projects for the construction of footbridges in front of the local bus stand and the Apeejay College of Fine Arts had been leased out at a cost of Rs 45 lakh each for 81 months. He alleged that the cost of construction should not have been more than Rs 20 lakh, adding that the corporation had also lost an additional income of Rs 2.43 crore, which a private company would be setting through hoardings put up at bus stand flyover during this period. The leader said that under another BOT project, the MC had paid an amount of Rs 48 lakh for the construction of 24 urinals in the city in a time frame of five years. He alleged that all those public conveniences that had been constructed had been lying closed for the past few months. Under yet another project, the MC had ordered for construction of two double basement parking lots, one in front of Nehru Garden and another near Narinder Cinema, at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore each, Mr Bhandari said. He alleged that the price that the MC had agreed to pay was much in excess. He further pointed out that the project had been leased out for a period of 10 years, eight months and 27 days, but the MC had not fixed any price with the private builder for parking of scooters and cars. He said public could suffer in case the private contractor charged exorbitantly. Mr Bhandari alleged that another BOT project of the construction of 50 bus shelters in the city at a cost of Rs 50 lakh for five years was fixed in a dubious manner, as there was limited local bus service in the interiors of the city. He added that the list mentioned other proposed BOT projects, including rail over bridge near DAV College, at a cost of Rs 18 crore. He alleged that the private contractor had also been permitted to put up 50 hoardings and 199 poles for advertisement against the High Court ruling. He further pointed out that the project of maintenance of street lights in the city had been leased out at a cost of Rs 1 crore for five years with permission to use poles for advertisement. Yet another project of maintenance of green belts at a cost of Rs 1 crore for seven years had been pending with the government, he said, adding that he would also raise a question over the fire incident in the MC office a few months back. He said that no report over the matter had been tabled yet. The MC Commissioner, Mr Johl, said all projects to the tune of Rs 35 to 40 crore had been well-planned and executed. He said that such meticulously-designed, revenue- generating projects had not been allocated anywhere throughout Punjab or anywhere in the northern region. He claimed that the allegations of the Opposition had no substance to them. |
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District Transport Dept bending law?
Tractor-trolleys overloaded with potato sacks at the Kapurthala railway station on Monday.
Kapurthala, March 6 The members of the Janta Truck Operators’ Union objected to the presence of tractor-trolleys that had reached the railway station overloaded with potato sacks. Some of the tractor-trolleys were carrying 15 tonnes more than the permissible weight. The sacks were to be sent to Hassan in Karnataka by a special rake hired by some firms. The truck operators alleged that on the insistence of a Punjab minister, the District Transport Officer (DTO) was pressurising them not to stop the overloaded vehicles. Otherwise also, the DTO, they alleged, had asked them to reduce the transportation charges for the potato sacks. The president of the union, Mr Harvinder Singh, told media persons that they had agreed to allow the tractor-trolleys to unload the potatoes for one day only, and the firms had agreed to use the trucks for loading purposes instead of tractor-trolleys at negotiated rates settled in the presence of the DTO. Mr Harvinder Singh alleged that the private firms had reached a similar agreement with the truckers’ union on Saturday, too, for carrying potatoes from various destinations to the local railway station and had even settled the rates. But breaching the agreement, they preferred to use the hired tractor-trolleys again, he further alleged. Meanwhile, the DTO, Mr Uma Shankar Gupta, said that he had simply summoned both the parties to his office and counselled them in reaching out an agreement on transportation charges and had advised them not to break the law by stopping vehicles themselves. Moreover, he said, it was not possible to keep a check on all routes to challan overloaded vehicles since, as per rules, he could not challan parked vehicles. The DTO denied any political pressure on the issue. |
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3 children taken ill after consuming milk
Phagwara, March 6 The three children were hospitalised, but after their condition stabilised, they were discharged. According to information, the two girls and the boy had taken milk at their home. The milk was possibly infected. Immediately after consuming the milk, they reported signs of food poisoning. The three were taken to the Civil Hospital here after they showed signs of suspected food-poisoning, it was learnt. When contacted today, Dr Yash Mitra, SMO, Civil Hospital, Phagwara, disclosed that all the three siblings had been discharged. |
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Filling stations drying up in state
Kapurthala, March 6 As global prices of crude oil increase, the losses to such oil companies have been mounting everyday. It has also put the fate of their franchisees in the lurch across Punjab. One such company is Essar Oil. According to its Deputy General Manager (marketing), Mr A.K. Handa, the company is bearing losses between Rs 5 and 6 per litre in the supplies of petrol in the state and the situation, he said, was not going to improve till July when their own refinery would get commissioned. At present, the company was fulfilling its obligations by supplying oil in limited quantities to its franchisees by making purchases from the MRPL and NRL, Mr Handa said. He said that in Punjab, the company was suffering maximum losses because of high transportation cost, as the oil supply was being brought from Gujarat. But the franchisees of the company have their own story of woes to tell. According to information, out of the 23 operational petrol stations of Essar Oil, 11 have closed down in the past few months and others have resorted to the rationing of petrol and diesel to keep their stations functioning throughout the month. “I’m suffering huge losses due to insufficient supply by the company. I had no other option but to start rationing oil at my petrol station, so that my customers from the adjoining villages do not feel harassed after coming here,” Nirpal Singh, the owner of Aujla Filling Station, located on Kartarpur Road here, said. “After investing over Rs 25 lakh in the venture, I’m finding it difficult to keep my station operational. I can’t think of profits,” Nirpal Singh added. However, one Sucha Singh from Balachaur, who stopped operations of his filling station in December last year due to “an insufficient oil supply” has no regrets investing in the business again. “I’m getting the commission the company agreed upon on the monthly supply of oil in case the supply target is not met, as per the contract,” Sucha Singh said, adding that he would start his operations in July only, when the company would restore the full supply. Same were the views of others, who halted operations after the commissioning of their petrol stations. But people, who have built their petrol stations after entering in the contract with the company and yet to commission their stations, are the biggest sufferers. Mr Gurdip Singh, owner of an upcoming petrol station near Dadwindi village on Sultanpur Lodhi road here, said he had invested over Rs 30 lakh into the station, but was unable to commission it, as the company had not made any supplies even after repeated requests to the officials concerned. “I’m facing a heavy financial crisis due to the rising interest on my investment and, as per the agreement, I cannot get any compensation from the company before commissioning,” he rued. |
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‘Cinema should convey a message’
Jalandhar, March 6 “When money power reigns supreme, creative voices may just not find their rightful place. Often these creative voices get lost in the din of glamour,” he explains, adding , “In fact, it calls for an engaging intellectual debate. The moneyed classes are propagating their own cultural values, and these very values are becoming the dominant values today.” He rues that it’s all gloss and glamour in Bollywood. In Kerala things are different. “The Malyali movies have a strong content. Moreover, it is easier to make small-budget Malyali films,” says this director of critically-acclaimed movies “Piravi” (Birth), “Swaham” (My Own), “Vanaprastham” and “Nishad”. (“Swaham” received an entry into the Cannes 1994 competition, while “Vanaprastham” won the “Best Feature Film Award, 1999”.) He does not hold a high opinion of movies that are bereft of a message. The storyline should be taut and the narration, too, must be gripping, he adds. “I write the screenplay of most of the movies I direct. This seems the most logical thing to me.” Predictably, ‘saleable’ stars fail to find favour with Shaji. “If actors are too caught up in looking good, when would they get the time to act? Otherwise also, I find the intensity and dedication of the yesteryear actors missing among the actors today,” he says, while expressing his distaste for the so-called dichotomy between the parallel and the mainstream cinemas. “A film is a film. Why attach a tag? These days, I am writing the screenplay for a movie on the painter Raja Ravi Verma. And I would not like to categorise it. What is important is that a movie should be true to your sensibilities,” he signs off. |
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196 caskets of liquor seized
Jalandhar, March 6 The caskets were seized from a truck. The driver of the truck, Gurjit Singh, has been arrested by the police. The police said he was a resident of Chuherwali village in Adampur. The driver confessed that he was taking the truck (from Himachal Pradesh) to a godown in Nurpur area of Jalandhar, said the police here today. |
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10 kg of poppy husk recovered
Phagwara, March 6 According to sources, the local police, on its routine checking of vehicles, had put up a naka near the Uchcha Pind village and signalled a scooterist to halt. On seeing the police, the person fled the spot leaving behind his two-wheeler. The police recovered 10 kg of poppy husk from a bag tied to the rear seat of the scooter. After a verification of scooter’s documents, the person was identified as Resham Lal from Lakhpur village in Banga, the police said. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered in this connection and the scooter has been impounded. |
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