Jalandhar, October 11
As the number of dengue cases rise, information regarding the disease is now just a call away. Various Civil Hospitals in the region have set up helplines to answer queries of the public and create awareness about the disease.

In Jalandhar, the health authorities and the Municipal Corporation have started the helpline. Doctors can be contacted on 0181-2224848 and municipal officials on 0181-2227015. However, some persons say the helpline is still not coming handy to them.

The Tribune last evening tried to find out the working of the helpline in Jalandhar. When a call was made first at 4.45 pm on 2224848, which is also a Civil Surgeon’s office number, a lady staff member took the call. She confirmed that it was a helpline but she could not answer any queries as she was not on duty there and she had simply come to attend the phone.

Later, when a call was again made on the number, watchman Sucha Singh took the call. When asked that a child had fever and rashes on the body and could it be dengue, he said the rashes were not a sign of dengue, clearly indicating his ignorance. But he said the child could be examined in emergency.

Dr J.P. Singh, Civil Surgeon, when contacted, said he had also given his cell number 98720-74403 as a helpline number.

In Amritsar, the Civil Surgeon’s office has helpline. One can get information on 0183-2211864 from 8 am to 10 pm.

Dr Jaspal Singh Gill, District Epidemiologist Officer, said a team of eight persons would work in two shifts and provide information on water-borne disease.

He said 10,000 pamphlets containing information about dengue had been distributed. A dengue ward had been established in Guru Nanak Dev Hospital.

Twenty-five dengue cases had been identified by the district health authorities out of which 19 treated. Rapid response teams were established to counter the threat.

The Pathankot administration in association with the district health authority has made arrangements to check the spread of the disease.

Dr Ravi Dogra, SMO, said an isolation ward had been made in the Civil Hospital for treating dengue patients. But so far only one case of dengue was reported in the town. He said a three-member team of doctors has been working round the clock in the Civil Hospital to treat dengue patients.

A helpline has been also started in the hospital. Doctors can be contacted on 0186-2220180.

Mr Vijay Kumar Sharma, executive officer, Municipal Council, said two fogging machines and four spray machines have been working in the city to check mosquitoes.

However, in Hoshiarpur the health authorities have not set up any helpline.

A round-the-clock helpline (01823-222036) has been set up at the Civil Surgeon’s office in Nawanshahr. The public can even reach the Civil Surgeon, Dr Balbir Singh, on 98140-70632 and the District Health Officer, Dr I.S. Sekhawat on 98149-99623.

However, in Batala the Senior Medical Officer was not available for comments in the Civil Hospital on Wednesday.

He was in Gurdaspur to attend a meeting.

Doctors on duty as well as clerical staff said no helpline was set up in the Civil Hospital. In the evening when Dr Jarnail Singh, Senior Medical Officer, was contacted he also said till date no helpline was started.

In Tarn Taran, Dr. Gagandeep Singh (98159-66014) and Dr. Karanjit Singh (98143-15427), while in Kapurthala, Dr. S.S. Gill (98154-63199) were made nodal officers to deal dengue cases.

Inputs from Deepkamal Kaur (Jalandhar), Neeraj Bagga (Amritsar), B.B. Dogra (Pathankot), Ravinder Sud (Hoshiarpur), Parmod Bharti (Nawanshahr) and Balraj Mahajan (Batala)

Jalandhar, October 11
A middle-aged woman from Luxmipura Colony admitted to the Civil Hospital here today tested positive for dengue.

Dr J.P. Singh, Civil Surgeon, confirmed the report. He said the patient, Swaran, who was admitted to the hospital yesterday, was now stable and would be discharged when the fever would go down. 

Jalandhar, October 11
Even as minors are working as labourers within the administrative complex as well as around it, the administrative and police officials did not seem to have woken up to enforce the ban on child labour even on the second day of its implementation today.

Child labourers at work in front of the administrative complex in Jalandhar on Wednesday. — Tribune photo by Pawan Sharma

The boys, most of them migrants, can be seen working in stalls and even parking lots.

Two Bihari boys were today working in a tea stall right in front of the entrance of the office of the DIG (Vigilance). While one of the boys helped the stall owner prepare tea, the other one went around the complex delivering the tea and getting the glasses. He was also seen washing glasses near the stall.

The Tribune team spotted the boy fetching empty glasses from the DIG’ office. As the lensman tried to take his picture, he went back hiding in rooms, requesting staff there to bail him out.

After 10 minutes, he came out without taking the glasses, requesting not to click his picture.

The stall owner lied that the boys were his children and he had got them here so that they could help him earn a livelihood.

Two minor Bihari boys were also seen working with their Bihari uncle at his stall of “kulche chhole” right outside the Food and Civil Supplies Office, which also falls in front of the gate of the administrative complex.

While one of the boys was preparing the batter, the younger one helped in serving the plates.

When the stall owner was asked about the boys, he said they had come from Samastipur village in Bihar. He said the boys had refused from going to school in their native village and so he got them here. Probably unaware of the ban, the innocent children and the stall owner did not show any reluctance while their pictures were being clicked.

A minor boy was also seen working at a parking lot on the same side. He helping car drivers and scooterists park and take out their vehicles.

The SSP, Mr Ishwar Singh, said he had asked the police personnel to look out for any children working as labourers. He said even as no case under the Act had been registered till today, he had asked his men to inquire and act immediately.

Tribune News Service
Subhanpur (Kapurthala), October 11
Two persons were killed and one was injured in a head-on collision between an oil tanker and a truck carrying LPG cylinders at Subhanpur on the Jalandhar-Amritsar National Highway 1 this morning. A possible major tragedy was averted with the alertness of the Subhanpur thana SHO, Mr Jang Bahadur Sharma.

The deceased were identified as Jhilmal Singh and Harjit Singh, driver and cleaner, respectively, of the oil tanker. Both were residents of Rode village in Moga district. The injured, Tej Singh, a petrol pump salesman, was admitted in a private hospital in Jalandhar.

The tanker was going to Tarn Taran from Jalandhar and the driver lost control of the vehicle and collided with the truck that was coming from the Amritsar side. The tanker and the truck overturned resulting in the death of the driver and the cleaner. The front portion of the tanker was completely damaged.

The SHO, who along with a police party reached the spot, cordoned off the entire area as the petrol from the tanker started leaking.

The SHO stopped the traffic for a few minutes and did not allow the people to come near the site. He called fire tenders from Kapurthala and Jalandhar and requisitioned the fire extinguisher equipment from the Air Force station, Adampur, to meet any eventuality.

Two fire tenders reached from Kapurthala and three from Jalandhar.

Mr Sharma also informed the Indian Oil Corporation authorities at Suchi Pind, Jalandhar. The authorities sent two empty tankers to shift the petrol. He said about 300 litres of petrol leaked from the tanker and spread on the road.

Jalandhar, October 11
Two persons were killed in a road accident when their motorcycle rammed into a roadside pole near Rama Mandi Chowk here today.

The victims were identified as Varinder and Narinder Kumar, both residents of Guru Nanak Nagar, police sources said, adding that accident occurred in the morning when Varinder, who was driving the motorcycle tried to save a person, who suddenly came on the road, lost control over the vehicle and rammed into the roadside pole.

Both were rushed to a nearby private hospital, where they were declared dead,

The sources said after registering a case, the bodies were sent to the Civil Hospital for postmortem. — PTI

Hoshiarpur, October 11
Sarabjit Kaur (20), a student of BA final year of S.D. College, died on the spot, while three other students were injured in a head-on collision between a three-wheeler and a Punjab Roadways bus at Punga village, near here, this morning. The victims were travelling in the three-wheeler. They were coming from Kahri village.

According to the police, the injured were identified as Maninder Kaur, sister of Sarabjit Kaur, Pawandeep Kaur and Satpal Singh, all students, and Harpal Singh, driver of the three-wheeler. — OC

Phagwara, October 11
Hundreds of activists of the Shiv Sena (Bal Thackeray), Punjab unit, headed by its president, Mr Ravinder Arora, today blocked traffic on the national highway here for more than one hour. They burnt the effigy of Pakistani President, Gen Pervez Musharraf, for writing an autobiography, “Atamkatha”.

The protesters first assembled at Shri Hanuman Garhi Temple and then marched through main bazars of the town, raising slogans against Gen Musharraf. They were demanding ban on the book for having derogatory remarks against the Indian Army.

Even the Lahore-bound Pakistani bus was diverted via Noormahal.

They demanded to register a case of sedition against the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Mr Ghulam Navi Azad, a former Chief Minister, Mr Farooq Abdullah, and a former minister, Mufti Mehbooba, for their mercy appeals to the President in the case of Mohammad Afzal, the main accused and the brain behind the attack on Parliament House.

Jalandhar, October 11
The Department of Civil Engineering of the Dr B.R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology (NIT) and the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Dundee, Scotland, today signed an MoU for the exchange of faculty and students, development of postgraduate programmes and getting provision for scholarships.

After signing the papers, Prof R.K. Dhir, Director, Concrete Technology Unit, University of Dundee, and Prof Moin Uddin, Director, NIT, outlined the provision of the MoU, saying that the PG programmes in civil engineering in the field of structural engineering and construction management, concrete and structural engineering, environment, geotechnical and geo-environment engineering would get an impetus.

They said there would also be a provision for scholarships up to 5,000 pounds. There would also be opportunities for exchange of academic material and provision of cultural and intellectual enrichment for faculty and students of both the institutions.