The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Despite a HC order, the civic authorities in Phagwara refuse to take note of the violations, says Anil Jerath

A commercial building on the Banga Road that towers way above the height specified in the Municipal Act. — Tribune photo by Pawan Sharma

Unauthorised construction, in flagrant violation of building bylaws, is nothing new to the town of Phagwara. Any locality you turn to, unauthorised constructions stare back. It is all pervasive, a blot on the face of the town.

Realising the same, the Punjab and Haryana High Court gave directions to the Phagwara Nagar Council and the Improvement Trust to check unauthorised constructions. Officials of the Nagar Council and Improvement Trust, however, allegedly turned a blind eye to these constructions.

Take for instance the burgeoning commercial complexes in the city. Most of them flout building bylaws, which clearly state that there must be ample space for parking.

There are allegations that these buildings have come up in connivance with Nagar Council or Improvement Trust officials.

Owing to the absence of proper parking facilities, these buildings, observers say, pose hindrance in the smooth flow of traffic.

There are a number of commercial buildings, including hospitals, shopping and office complexes, which have come up in the recent past without proper parking facilities.

Sporadically, though, Nagar Council officials do act tough against people who are responsible for violations of bylaws. But the drive seems half-hearted and nothing truly comes out of it.

All this has been going on despite issuance of stay orders by the High Court on the constructions of buildings which do not have proper parking slots.

Interestingly, a shopping complex which is coming up in Hargobind Nagar, just opposite Makkar Hospital, has no parking slot. Similarly, Arjun Mall and some other shopping complexes have encroached upon government land by erecting stairs in the corridors of the shopping complex.

An “ahata” has recently come up by covering up the corridor with plywood, meant for pedestrians, in Hargobind Nagar.

Kultham Shoes on Banga Road has a building height more than the specified height of 35 feet in the Municipal Act and has no proper parking facility.

As many as 20 hospitals and several shopping complexes have been running from residential areas in Hargobind Nagar and Patel Nagar localities alone.

How these hospitals and commercial complexes were allowed to come up right under the nose of the civic body or the Improvement Trust officials is a glaring example of open connivance of officials with violators.

According to provisions of the Municipal Corporation, (Erection and Re-erection of Building Bylaws, 1997) every commercial building up to 500 square yards of area will cover only 60 per cent of the total area while the covered area, in case of commercial buildings having above 500 square yards, should be 50 per cent.

But these shopping complexes have covered almost the entire area. None of these complexes have left 20 per cent of the total covered area for parking. Violators also offend bylaws by not leaving the specified 30 per cent (15 per cent each for back and one side) of the total covered area.

Bylaws further state that only 5 to 7 per cent of the excess covered area can be compounded by charging penalty from the owner, while rest of the unauthorised construction will have to be demolished.

Area residents allege that shopping complexes will further aggravate traffic problems for want of proper parking space as hundreds of light and heavy traffic vehicles, including roadways buses, pass through the road in front of these shopping complexes on Banga Road and Guru Hargobind Nagar.

Highly-placed sources in the Nagar Council claim that lakhs of rupees have allegedly exchanged hands for allowing violators to raise these buildings. “First, the Town Planning Wing officials charge bribes ranging from anywhere between Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh for sanctioning the building plan. In case private builders choose to deviate from the building plan, officials charge Rs 1 lakh to 2 lakh extra per building to keep their eyes shut,” one such source said.

When contacted, Phagwara Nagar Council President Malkiat Singh Ragbotra said these violations were there before he took over as the President of the civic body. “We issue notices to such violators from time to time,” he added.

Phagwara Improvement Trust Chairman Balbir Raja Sodhi or Executive Officer Tejinder Singh, despite repeated attempts, remained incommunicado.

Cool outlet for lovers of natural drinks
Deepkamal Kaur
Tribune News Service

This 70-year-old outlet for cool, natural drinks is the most common halt for the shoppers coming to Rainak Bazaar in summers. Served with crushed ice, visitors to the shop of Vaid Chandu Lal and Sons have an option to take their pick from a wide variety of drinks ranging from flavours of rose, sandal, khas, brahmi-almond, brahmi and almond to refresh themselves from the sweltering heat.

The shop that was opened by an ayurveda expert Chandu Lal in 1936 is now being managed by his two sons. The shop continues to get hundreds of customers throughout the day. While most of the visitors like to enjoy the drink immediately, some prefer taking away the sharbat bottles home.

Mr Bal Krishan, the elder brother, claims, “People prefer our drinks for they have developed some trust for the past seven decades. Our sharbats do not contain any chemicals for they are in pure and natural form. We add some colours in few drinks, but only those which are permitted and within the allowed limits. We do not keep much stock of the drinks and prepare them fresh every morning.”

Mr Ashwini Kumar, younger brother, tells that a huge market of soft, aerated drinks, preserved fruit juices and squashes had certainly brought down their sales. But he believes that many people, including youngsters, were reverting to traditional, natural drinks. He adds that he has a huge fixed clientage coming to him for the past many decades.

Ms Sarika Malhotra, a businesswoman, says that she was very fond of rose and badam drinks available from the outlet. She tells that her mother used to buy sharbats from the shop for her and now she was doing the same for her children.

The outlet is also popular for its murabbas of amla, carrot, apple, cherry, gulkand, mango and bel. The murabbas come in two forms, with and without sugar syrup. Customers also go in for a variety of pickles of mango, seasonal vegetables, lemon and chillies available in the shop.

Punjab team warms up to Junior Basketball Championship
Anuradha Shukla
Tribune News Service

The Punjab team that is going to take part in the 57th Junior National Basketball Championship will be headed by Kiranjot Kaur.

The championship, for boys and girls, will begin at Ludhiana from May 27 and continue till June 3.

The District Basketball Association in collaboration with the Toronto Basketball Academy organised a 15-day camp for the team at the Hans Raj Mahila Mahavidyalya College.

Captain of the team, Kiranjot Kaur, said the team was in high spirits and was aiming at bagging the title. “We have been through rigorous training at the camp for the tournament,” Kiranjot said.

Kiranjot has represented India in international tournaments like the Commonwealth Games. She said the experience of the team members at the national level would go a long way in helping them win.

The team’s coach, Kanwarjit Singh, said the team, which is part of the line up in Pool F, would compete with teams from West Bengal, Orissa and Manipur. “The team is hopeful of clearing the quarterfinal stage with ease. It’s better prepared than the silver medal-winning team of the state in the 55th Junior National Basketball championship in 2004,” the coach said.

The team was given basketball kits and bags by the District Basketball Association. The association’s general secretary, P. S. Nijjer, said the players had worked hard in the camp for the championship. The team would attend another camp from May 24 to 27 before leaving for the championship, he added.

Though Kiranjit Kaur is leading a team for the junior championship, she plays in senior categories also.

She rued that the girls did not get a good deal as they did not have job opportunities as compared to the boys. “The team can do better with more professional approach,” she added.

Ruchi Gupta bags top position in LLB exam

Ruchi gUPTA, a first semester student of LLB three years course from the Khalsa College Lyallpur of Laws for Women, has come out with flying colours by bagging the top position with 78.68 per cent in examination conducted by Guru Nanak Dev University. The students from the college have also managed to grab eight of the top 15 positions in the examination.

Besides, Sarita and Aditi Gupta from the college have secured second and third positions with 71.6 and 70.6 per cent, respectively, in BA LLB five years course also being run in affiliation with Guru Nanak Dev University. The college students have again managed to get 10 ranks out of the top 15 declared by the university, said Ms Arvind Arora, Dean of the Education Council of College Management. Mr Balbir Singh, President of the College and former MP, has congratulated the students. —TNS

City girl secures highest maks in English

Natasha Singh

Natasha Singh, a Plus Two non-medical student of Army Public School, has got an astonishingly high score in English subject in the examination conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education.

Natasha Singh has obtained 97 marks in English out of 100. Daughter of Lt Col Diljit Singh and a resident of Wazir Singh Enclave here, she has also stood second in the school scoring 89.2 per cent marks.

Natasha believes that it was through hard work and God’s grace that she was able to score so well in the subject.

Aiming at pursuing engineering in biotechnology or electronics and communication, she is confident of getting through IIT entrance test. — TNS

Summer camp for tiny tots
Tribune News Service

Kidzee, a playway school, will start a month-long summer camp with activities ranging from yoga, dance, singing, art and craft for the children between age groups three to 12 years. Activities ranging from gift wrapping, best out of waste, soft toy-making, collage-making, rakhi-making, decorative candle-making and puppet-making will also be conducted during the camp. Children of the age above five years will be given knowledge in computer operating.

The camp will also include innovative celebrations in the form of dance party, rain party, community celebration, variety show and watermelon party. Kids will also be taken to McDonald during the course of the camp. Major attractions would be personal grooming and cooking without fire to make the children self-reliant, said Ms Samriti Bhardwaj, coordinator.

Market Buzz

Himalaya Optical, a showroom near Model Town Gurudwara, has now showcased a wide range of sunglasses from a new brand, Lee Cooper.

A ceremony to mark the occasion was held on Wednesday.

Mr Amardeep Singh, outlet manager, said that sunglasses of the brand would be available exclusively in his showroom.

He said that he was optimistic of selling nearly 150 pairs of glasses in the first two months.

He added that the buyers would have to shell out Rs 1,699 to Rs 1,899 to go in for an exclusive and elite range of the glasses.

New battery

Exide Industries Limited has launched a new version of tubular battery, Inva Gold, with 36 months of warranty for inverters. Formal launching was done by Mr S. Kalla, Vice-President of the company.

He said that it would be the first tubular battery with zero maintenance for inverters.

He said that it had been made with ironclad tubular technology with a specialty of six years of life suited for long power cuts.

He said that it had been designed by the R and D centre of the company which now had a turn over of Rs 1,800 crore. — TNS