HEALTH

Satluj Club spa zone gets more attractive
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, September 4
The local Satluj Club has renovated its spa zone, which now boasts of special facilities like sauna bath, jacuzzi steam bath and massage room.

Mr Ashok Kumar Gupta, Deputy Commissioner and president of the club, inaugurated the renovated spa zone last night. Members of the executive committee, including Mr Priyank Bharti ADC (D) and Mr S.R. Kaler, DDLG; general secretary of the club Sanjay Arora, vice-president A.S. Chawla, Mr Darshan Singh, DPRO, sports secretary Simranjit Nota, finance secretary Arvind Malhotra, and cultural secretary Sanjeev Dhanda were also present.

Mr Gupta visited the other sections of the health club. He said with the renovation of the spa zone, the club had achieved the distinction of providing the facilities of excellent quality in north India. The renovation project was completed at a cost of Rs 21 lakh, Mr Gupta said.

Mr Nota said a well-furnished sauna bath with a capacity of five or 10 persons had been set up and it was equipped with all fire-safety measures, two jacuzzis of latest technology, a steam bath section with a capacity of 10 or 15 persons and a well-decorated air-conditioned massage room. For the convenience of the members of the club, an air-conditioned rest room, with relaxed wooden chairs and a TV, had been provided set up and all bathrooms had been fitted with latest gadgets, he added.

Later, Mr Gupta presided over a meeting of the executive committee of the club. At the meeting, it was decided to publish a new club directory with the updated information about all members, including addresses, phone numbers, etc., which would be made available to the members positively by Divali.

It was also decided to install a hydrant fire safety system at the club, for which a five-member committee, headed by ADC (D), had been formed. To finalise the concept and design of the car parking to be constructed at the club, another five-member committee, headed by the ADC (D), had been constituted.

ADMINISTRATION

Need to set up Ludhiana development authority
K.S. Chawla

Ludhiana, September 4
City development plan for Ludhiana has been conceived under the Jawahar Lal Nehru National Urban Renewal mission. The JNNURM is the brain child of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who is keen that the urban development of the cities should be taken up with a view to providing all the basic civic amenities to the urban population. Under this mission 63 cities, including Ludhiana have been selected.

Accordingly the Municipal Corporation of Ludhiana has prepared the plan with the help of professional consultants. The Plan has revealed some interesting facts regarding Ludhiana and its development.

The population of Ludhiana town stood at 30,000 in 1947 at the time of the partition of country. It is estimated that 75,000 refugees came to settle in this town. The percentage of growth of population of Ludhiana has been phenomenal. In 1971 it was 50 per cent and in 1991 it rose to 65.3 percent. In 2001 it declined to 37.8 per cent. The decline continued till December, 2005, which came to 19 per cent. However, the projected increase in population upto 2025 has been estimated at 45 lakh. Ludhiana remains the largest city from among the five towns-Allahabad, Varanasi, Kanpur and Meerut where the population growth is much less than Ludhiana. One out of every six urban dwellers living in the state of Punjab resides in Ludhiana and the density of population of this town comes to 8755 per sq. km which is slightly less than Delhi.

The city development plan reveals that the total number of workers come to 5,04,109, out of which 4,79,188 are main workers and 24,921 are marginal workers. Only 18 per cent of the population of Ludhiana has been categorised below the poverty line as compared to 23.6 per cent of total population of the country.

It has been claimed in the city development plan, it is not only a study regarding the physical development, but it also involves social and economic development as well.

The plan also gives a list of the specific challenges for development of Ludhiana, wherein the first priority has been given to environmental pollution. However, the traffic management sewerage waste and water treatment, sanitation, safe drinking water for the residents also find mention. On the whole, it is a very ambitious plan which projects the necessity of 30,000 to 40,000 people. There are a total number of 209 slums in the town, out of which 57 have been developed. Slum development needs special emphasis.

The framework of the plan has also listed some of the constraints which are likely to come in the way of development of Ludhiana. It is stated that there is no approved master plan of the Ludhiana town, and it is conceded that Ludhiana improvement Trust and the Municipal Corporation are working in vacuum as a result of which there are no satisfactory arrangements for the management of municipal solid waste. There are no approved garbage collection centers and waste water and solid waste are not handled for treatment.

In the city plan, rapid transport system has been mentioned as urgent need of the town. There is no satisfactory local bus service. The three-wheelers and auto-rickshaws are polluting are atmosphere in a big way. The manually driven rickshaws remain a big hazard in the quick movement of traffic and consequently there are frequent jams. The city development plan has proposed two systems for this challenge — mono-rail system and metro-rail system. It has been proposed that the metro rail should run from Jalandhar bypass to Samrala Chowk to Sherpur road, Gill road to vishawakarma Chowk to Jagraon Bridge. A special route has been recommended from Halwara airport to Jagraon bridge, Samrala chowk to Kohara and Sahnewal and Bhai Bala chowk to Pakhowal. The mono-rail system will cater to the needs of the old city.

There is a proposal to have a ring road which is the urgent need of the town because the bypass has come under the municipal limits and now there is no Bypass.

The city development plan has not made any mention of the Budha Nullah which is the ‘lifeline’ of this town because in the absence of this stream, the town would have become a ‘city of sick people’, Budha Nullah is a blessing for the Ludhianvis as it carries the sewage sullage of the town and it is a curse for the town because no steps have been taken to keep it clean and allow the water to have free flow. For this the residents and the authorities of the Municipal Corporation cannot be absolved of the responsibility.

The total city development plan has been put at Rs. 3995 crore, including the cost of the ring road.

To implement this ambitious plan, it is necessary to have Ludhiana development Authority with the necessary expertise. Above all, the men at the helm to implement this programme must be dedicated, honest and hard working. they should also have the pain at heart to set things right.

(To be concluded)