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This city is not safe from fires
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Traffic policemen follow two sets of rules
Phagwara police on challaning spree
Animal husbandry department to get male buffalo calves
Rail Coach Factory agitation mishandled
Kapurthala’s Sainik School prepares for a facelift
Alumna of KMV plans to publish low-priced books for children
Young world
Innocent Hearts
Pensioners’ meet
Platina launched
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This city is not safe from fires
Despite being Doaba’s most developed city,
Jalandhar is hardly fire safe. Narrow, encroached upon and almost inaccessible lan Absence of any fresh recruitment of firemen and other staff in the local MC-run Fire Brigade after 1978 is a glaring and tell-tale sign of prolonged neglect of the Fire Brigade on the part of the Municipal Corporation that hardly seems to be concerned about the safety of residents of Jalandhar from fire. Shortage of fire tenders further adds to the woes of the existing ill-equipped fire fighting staff and makes residents more vulnerable to an eventuality relating to a sudden eruption of fire. Even as the local Fire Brigade authorities are in the process of acquiring a small fire tender, fabricated on the body of a small truck, there are more than a dozen localities in the old city, such as Attari Bazaar, Pir Bodlan Bazaar, Quazi Mohalla, Bartan Bazaar, Gur Mandi entrance, Kalan Bazaar, Bhairon Bazaar, Rainik Bazaar, Sheikhan Bazaar, and narrow lanes leading to the railway station that are so narrow and congested that these could hardly be accessed with the help of a fire tender. “We have small and effective pumps to douse fire in narrow streets, but the use of such pumps often results in burning out of precious time and as a result the response time taken by the fire fighting staff exceeds much beyond the ideal response time limit of three minutes,” pointed out an official of the Fire Brigade. Apart from one Fire Brigade Headquarters, situated in front of the local Central Jail, Jalandhar has two fire sub-stations — one in Dada Colony in the Industrial Area and the other adjoining Partap Bagh. While the headquarters are equipped with 11 fire tenders, the two sub-stations have three vehicles. The Municipal Corporation recently gave approval for the purchase of one more small fire tender, mounted on a mini-truck. There are just 22 firemen with the Fire Brigade authorities. “The new small fire tender is undergoing the process of fabrication and it is likely to take just about one more month to reach here,” said an MC official. But this is not enough. As per the national fire safety norms, the strength of firemen was just one-fourth of the actual requirement based on population. Similarly, the number of vehicles is almost half of what is actually required for a city of the size of Jalandhar, with a burgeoning population of 12 lakh. The national fire safety norms stipulate the requirement of one fire brigade station for a population of 50,000, which simply means that Jalandhar requires at least 24 fire stations, each one equipped with at least one fire tender and firefighting staff of six in each of the three shifts of a day. But these norms are perhaps thrown to winds in Jalandhar for the reasons best known to the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation (JMC) authorities. Fire Brigade sources revealed that apart from about a dozen localities in the old city, there were a number of areas in the city where encroachments had made the job of fire fighting quite a tough and almost an impossible task. “Such localities are scattered in all parts of the city. But we can hardly do anything about them except for doing regular rehearsals in such areas. Sometimes, hurdles are created by illegally-constructed pavements and we have to break these first before reaching the point of fire outbreak. This consumes a lot of time and the very purpose of fire safety is defeated,” pointed out an official. Until last year, residents of the Attari Bazaar area and adjoining markets were sitting on a tinderbox, thanks to the presence of a large number of fire-cracker stores in the area. But they heaved a sigh of relief when in a joint and much-applauded operation, the district administration and the JMC succeeded in shifting these stores to Burlton Park, in spite of the stiff opposition offered by fire-cracker wholesalers. When contacted, Mr S.S Johl, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, admitted that there were certain shortcomings so far as the existing fire safety arrangements were concerned. But at the same time, he said he was satisfied with the performance of the Fire Brigade staff. “We are trying to strengthen the fire-safety network. We have engaged 20-25 ex-servicemen in fire-fighting operations. We have the minimum requisite infrastructure to fight fires”. |
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Playing with fire
Most of the petrol pumps, marriage palaces and restaurants in the
district are working without obtaining any clearance from the Fire Safety Officer under the National Building Code of India.
Even the Suvidha Centre at the District Administrative Complex does not have the required safety clearance. Two marriage palaces, one along the GT Road near Dhilwan and the other at Sultanpur Lodhi Road near Dadwindi, are housing petrol pumps and do not have fire safety clearances. According to information, more than 20 petrol pumps were installed in the district in the last two years, and no owner was asked to obtain a fire safety clearance, which is compulsory under the said Code. The petrol pumps already operational do not bother to renew their clearance certificates. The Fire Safety Officer, Kapurthala, Mr Surjit Singh, reportedly brought this to the notice of the former Deputy Commissioner, but no action was taken in this regard. Now, in view of the fatal fire incident at Meerut, the officer said he had again written a letter in this regard to Mr Raminder Singh, the new Deputy Commissioner. Meanwhile, the situation of the fire brigade is also warranting. There are two fire tenders for three sub-division of the district, namely Kapurthala, Bholath and Sultanpur Lodhi. One of the tenders was manufactured 23 years ago and the other 16 years ago. It is surprising how these tenders are allowed to run on the roads when the road-worthiness certificate expires in 15 years. The story does not end here. A staff of 55 is required at a fire station equipped with two fire tenders and the Kapurthala Fire Station is being run by 14 employees only.
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Traffic policemen follow two sets of rules
Does the Jalandhar Traffic Police has with two sets of rules — one for common people and rickshaw-pullers and the other for influential bus owners and autorickshaw drivers?
It seems to be the case if the traffic situation at the foot-bridge on the GT Road in front of the Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT) and the PAP T-Point is taken into consideration. No common person or a rickshaw-pullers can park his vehicle even for a single moment at both these places. But mini-bus owners or auto-rickshaw drivers usually get parking facility at the places in the presence of traffic policemen. The two set of rules, usually followed by the lower-rung traffic officials posted at the two places, are on open display. The policemen are seen herding common vehicle owners and rickshaw-pullers from the two places with sticks. Common people, usually oblivious of the restrictions, are not spared by the traffic constables. Even when their vehicles are duly parked inside the side-lines earmarked for short-duration parking near the foot-bridge, they are shown sticks. On the other hand, drivers of buses, mini-buses and auto-rickshaws seem to enjoy their clout. They are allowed to flout the rules and can park their vehicles for any length of time, even in the middle of the GT Road. Almost the same situation prevails at the PAP T-Point, where buses are parked in the middle of the road and even right beneath the traffic lights, causing inconvenience to vehicle users headed towards Rama Mandi. The double standards of traffic policemen was apparent the other day when an ASI of the traffic police, on duty near the foot-bridge, was apprised about wrong parking of a bus of a Jalandhar-based minister and a couple of auto-rickshaws in the middle of the road under the foot-bridge, he kept silent. Meanwhile, a traffic constable kept herding rickshaw-pullers and some common vehicle drivers away from the scene. |
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Phagwara police on challaning spree
The traffic wing of the Phagwara police in its challaning spree issued as many as 749 challans to offenders and collected Rs 1,02,150 as fine under various categories in March.
According to traffic wing in charge Sukhpal Singh most of the challans were issued for not wearing helmet and using fancy number plates. He further disclosed that several check posts were set up in different parts of the town to nab the offenders. The main emphasis of the drive was to keep a special check on minors and youngsters driving over-speed. The educational wing of the traffic police visited many schools, colleges, taxi stands and transport unions and delivered lectures on the traffic rules. The traffic police also held a free pollution check-up camp at the local bus stand here on Monday. “It will now be a routine feature to impart training regarding the traffic rules to school and college students and books will be distributed free of cost among them,” said Sukhpal Singh.
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TNS
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Animal husbandry department to get male buffalo calves
Farmers and dairy owners of Punjab would soon be able see a transformation in the genetic quality of their indigenous “Murrah” buffaloes and to upgrade the yield of their ordinary buffaloes in just one shot, as the Punjab Animal Husbandry Department has decided to buy male calves of those buffaloes, which are giving highest mild yield.
After purchasing male calves of high-yield buffaloes, the department would rear them in its two semen banks based at Ropar and Nabha. Upon their attaining maturity, semen of the best of male calves would be collected at these two centers and subsequently would be further routed to farmers so that they could get their buffaloes upgraded genetically at a fast pace. It is for the first time in Punjab that the Department of Animal Husbandry is undertaking an exercise to effect purchase of best male calves of buffaloes. Earlier, most of young calves would end up in slaughter houses, as their use in farm operations had got curtailed as farming had got almost fully-mechanised in Punjab over a period of past about two decades. “We are going to buy the best of calves of those buffaloes, which are giving a daily milk
yelled ranging between 18 and 21 litres and above,” Mr D.S. Bains, the Secretary of the Animal Husbandry Department, Punjab, told The Tribune. “We have not fixed any bottom line about those buffaloes, whose calves would be purchased by the department. The semen collected from these calves at our semen banks would be made available to buffaloes of those farmers, who would intend to upgrade genetic quality of their mich cattle, through our veterinary centres,” he added. “The exercise is likely to result in a sort of revolution in milk production as it will
improve the yield of the cattle of the state in shortest possible way,” Mr Bains said. Farmers and dairy owners of Punjab, it was learnt, had an estimated 55 lakh ordinary “Murrah” buffaloes and the average daily milk yield of each of the
buffalo was around seven litres. This means that Punjab was far behind as far as milk yield from buffaloes was concerned. But the exercise, if undertaken with full zeal by the authorities, was likely to increase average yield to 14 litres and above, depending upon the quality of artificial insemination. “We have, however, not decided on the number of calves to be purchased by the department so far and we are working on modalities to fix the price of calves. Entire process will take a little time, but, our effort would be to initiate the scheme as soon as possible,” Mr Bains said.
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Rail Coach Factory agitation mishandled
The agitation by the employees of the Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, which turned violent on Monday, shows a failure of the Railway management in putting in place an effective dispute resolution mechanism.
Based largely on misinformation, the agitation reflects poorly not only on the RCF authorities at Kapurthala, but also at the top leadership. That this should happen at a time when the Railways has justly earned wide appreciation for its financial turnaround is all the more discomforting. Sparked by Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav’s announcement in the Rail Budget for 2006-07 to convert the RCF, Kapurthala, into a public sector unit, none in the top brass at the Railways had anticipated that such a well-meaning proposal would invite a violent response. That the trouble persisted even after the PSU proposal was shelved shows how the agitation has been mishandled. When Mr Lalu Yadav had proposed corporatisation of the Kapurthala RCF, no one, not even the Left leadership, the champions of the workers’ rights, had opposed it. That was because making the RCF a PSU would not have caused any harm to workers. It would have instead given the RCF management a greater functional autonomy and it would have speeded up decision-making, thus propelling growth. The RCF employees were led to believe that corporatisation was the first step to its ultimate privatisation, which means their jobs would be at risk. Driven by an insecure future, they resorted to agitation, bringing even their velna-weilding womenfolk onto the streets. The Railway authorities, on their part, failed to counter the spread of misinformation. The workers needed a firm assurance that their jobs were secure and that a PSU remains a government entity. Experience shows that even in case a PSU is privatised, its employees are usually not turned out. The trouble-makers are not wanted anywhere. The word “privatisation” still evokes negative emotions, especially among the Left-led workers. This is despite the fact that it is the private sector that is spearheading the present growth momentum. Only a small fraction of the population is into government jobs. Being well organised, employees manage to influence policies to their advantage. The large force of unorganised labour has no social security and no platform to make demands on the government. The exchequer suffers a heavy loss year after year as sick PSUs are not allowed to close down. The spirit of service is missing in government employees. This has led to a worldwide acceptance of the policy that “the government has no business to be in business”. In the changed scenario the government role has shrunk and it is acting as a facilitator to growth. Competition from the private sector has forced government institutions like banks to perform and show results. Change is fast and adjustments take time. Hence, there are social disruptions like the one at Kapurthala. It all needs dispassionate understanding and wider public debate about the direction of change. The Kapurthala Rail Coach Factory, which began production on September 19, 1987, makes air-conditioned coaches used in trains like Shatabdi and has made a name for itself. It has got export orders too. But the month-and-a-half long agitation has brought down production from five coaches a day to one now. This has happened because the Railway authorities did not know how to deal with a simple issue like this. When the Railway Minister reportedly halted the process to covert the RCF into a PSU, the agitated workers wanted an assurance in writing. What was the problem in circulating the written order? Why should a senior officer point a revolver to a worker? Why that uncalled-for transfer of a technician, who was also a witness to the revolver incident? Lastly, why did the management take it so long to send the General Manager on leave? Not many realise the impact of such unwarranted agitations on development. These days states vie with one another in wooing private investment. Even in the Left-ruled state of West Bengal the Chief Minister has publicly opposed strikes to create an industry-friendly environment. Punjab already lags in industrial development and private investment is just a trickle compared to what states like Karanatka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and even Orissa get. Agitations only scare away industry. If the RCF grows, it would create many more jobs, but agitations would put on hold all expansion plans. |
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Kapurthala’s Sainik School prepares for a facelift
The Jagatjit Palace, Kapurthala’s most famous historical building, is all set for
renovation. The building was turned into the Sainik School in 1961.
The district administration has received more than Rs 2 crore from the school’s management for the renovation of the building. A sum of Rs 1.01 crore were released by the Ministry of Defence last year for the same purpose and a matching grant of Rs 96 lakh was sent by the Punjab government. The Sainik School authorities have recently transferred all the amount with the accumulated interests to the district administration for the work to start early. The district administration was appointed as the nodal agency to carry out the work under the supervision of a technical committee. According to sources, only one agency showed the interest in the restoration work after tenders were floated for the purpose. Hence, the offer was rejected on technical grounds. Now there is a proposal to invite INTACH, an NGO, for the purpose. The palace was constructed by a Frenchman, M. Manteaux, in 1908 for the erstwhile ruler of Kapurthala on the patterns of the Palace of Versailles and Fontainebleau in France. Its statuary and painted ceilings represent the finest aspects of French aesthetics. Many roofs of the palace were made in the 19th century “beaux-art” style. The Mansard roof has a double slope. The lapis lazuli pillars were imported from Italy. The marble for the fireplaces and the furniture also came from France. The reception hall was named after Sun King, Louis XIV of France. The palace museum boasts of priceless antiques and paintings.
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Alumna of KMV plans to publish low-priced books for children
It was a momentous occasion for Dr Poonam S. Kohli, proprietor of a Bangalore-based publishing house, to get two books released in her hometown here on Tuesday.
A pass out from Government Model School, Jalandhar, and Kanya Maha Vidyalaya, the former Vice-President with Macmillan Publishing House has now set up Punya Publishing Pvt Ltd in Bangalore. Already having earned a credit for publishing “The Luminous Sparks”, a biography in verse by the President of India, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, she was here to release two books, “Year 7007-Fable of a forgotten planet”, an amazing science fiction penned by Mr A.K. Vijay Kumar, and “Lucifer”, a poetry book authored by Bahaish Namit, one of the youngest published writers in India. The second book also carries illustrations with paintings by hearing impaired artists. The writer of the science fiction, Mr Vijay Kumar, said the book would answer all questions related to the next stride of human evolution. He said the fiction was in the form of a murder mystery thriller with a distinct Indian flavour. He explained, “I have tried to explore the thesis propounded by Aurobindo Ghosh that states that the next step in the evolutionary ladder would be in the realm of spirit for acquisition of powers like telepathy.” “The book will take the readers into a world where humankind has spread out and colonised space, conquering disease, aging and even death. The absorbing space opera will tell the story of a career diplomat, who is sent to another planet, Zen, on a routine assignment where he encounters strange events,” the author said. Dr Kohli said she was coming out with a series of books for children. She wanted to bring out attractive, but moderately priced, textbooks that focused on holistic development. Based on her educational research, she has also set up the Punya Educational and Research Services for conducting teacher orientation and training programmes in schools. On the occasion, the two books were released by senior educationist and scholar, Mr D.R. Vij. The function was also attended by Dr Rita Bawa, Principal of Kanya Maha Vidyalaya who is also Dr Kohli’s sister. Other family members of Dr Kohli were also present on the occasion.
— TNS
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Young world
By Deepkamal Kaur St Soldier society The St Soldier Educational Society has signed an agreement with Alberta Distance Learning Centre, Canada, for starting study centres throughout India for Canadian High School diploma. Mr Anil Chopra, chairman, said this during a press conference on Monday. Mr Eric from Alberta said the diploma course that would be equivalent to the Indian Plus Two system would cover subjects of English, social studies, mathematics, physical education, career and life planning, and fine arts. He said the eligibility criterion for the applicants for one-year diploma would be matriculation. Mr Eric explained that there would be three semesters of four months each. The first two semesters would be conducted in India under the supervision of Canadian teachers. The third semester would be conducted in Canada, he said, following which the students would be assisted in choosing a Canadian university or a college, in taking admission. The Canadian officer said every student would get a valid Canadian High School Certificate after being evaluated for the same. Mr K.K. Dhir, managing director of the society, said every student would be assigned a counsellor for the course which one could opt for at $ 10,000 for the year. He said the classes for the first batch would begin at Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur by mid-May this year. The project would be a joint venture of St Soldier Education Society, Jalandhar, and Get Visa Immigration Inc, Vancouver. Apeejay School An investiture ceremony was organised at Apeejay School, Model Town, on Saturday. Primary section students of Classes IV and V were decorated with badges of house captains, vice-house-captains, head boy, head girl and discipline perfects. The students took the oath of discharging their duties with dedication and sincerity. Parents of these students were also invited to witness the ceremony. Ms Ranjana Sood, Principal, Ms Aneela Kinder, Headmistress, and Ms Roma Middha, coordinator, were also present on the occasion. The school students also celebrated Baisakhi on Friday. The ceremony began with the singing of shabad by the school choir. The significance of the festival in the life of Punjabis was explained by the students through their speeches. The function ended with a performance of bhangra. Ms Kinder and Ms Middha exhorted the students to carry on with Punjabi traditions.
Innocent Hearts
Students of Innocent Hearts School, Green Model Town, took oath during a ceremony organised on Saturday. Ms S. Bowry, Principal, declared Tanuja Gulati as the head girl and Paras Sareen as the head boy of senior classes. Tejaswini Nanda took oath as the head girl of junior section, while Kiratpal Singh was selected as the head boy. Prefects, captains and vice-captains of houses were also decorated. The oath was administered by Ms Ajit Kaur, a senior teacher. Seminar The Apeejay Institute of Management, Rama Mandi, will organise a two-day seminar on “Innovative application of information technology and management for economic growth of India” on April 21 and 22. To be sponsored by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the conference will focus on the use of IT in governance, insurance, banks, financial institutes, energy, defence, public tax system, ports, customs, telecommunication, small office, home office and even individuals. The conference proceedings will be initiated by Mr J.B. Goyal, Secretary, Industrial Training, Punjab. Mr M.C. Munjal, Managing Director of Majestic Auto Ltd, will preside over the function, and Dr M.A. Zahir, Chairman, Synetic Business School, will deliver the keynote address. Dr Moin Uddin, Director, Dr B.R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, will deliver the valedictory address. Dr Balram Dogra, Director of the host institute, said that around 100 academicians from universities across the country would participate in the event. |
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To form a joint front to press for demands of 35 lakh Central government pensioners and family pensioners, the leaders of all major pensioners’ organisations and associations across the country would hold a conference at New Delhi on May 14.
The hosts of the conference would be Mr Sham Sunder, secretary general of the Bharat Pensioners’ Samaj, Mr S.M. Prashar from the Railway Pensioners’ Welfare Association and Mr S.S. Ramachandran, secretary general of the All India Central Government Pensioners’ Association.
— TNS
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The base version of the Platina is priced at Rs 34,080 and the high-end version with allow wheels is available at Rs 36,080 (ex-showroom, Punjab).
— TNS
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Platina, the new 100-cc bike from the stable of Bajaj Autos Limited, was launched in