While most crossroads in Jalandhar have statues of freedom fighters and martyrs, the residents here can expect two more statues soon.

The Municipal Corporation has already sanctioned a statue of Beant Singh, former Chief Minister, in an island at BMC Chowk, and that of Bhagat Singh at a chowk named after him in the old part of the city. The existing weathered statue of the martyr at the chowk will be replaced by a new one soon.

The statue of Dr B.R.Ambedkar occupies the most prominent position in the city on the busy Nakodar Chowk. The majestic statue has little greenery around it. The chowk holds eminence for thousands of Ambedkar followers and the area around it has become a landmark for most dalit protests. The roundabout remains covered by buntings, banners and hoardings during all occasions and gatherings of dalit groups.

The statue of Lal Bahadur Shastri at the intersection of Shastri Market is in greyish white colour and has fountains all around it.

The statue of yet another freedom fighter, Pt Kishori Lal, has been put up close to a tri-junction near the Punjab Press Club. The dark grey statue was installed in May last year.

The statue of Kirti Chakra awardee Major Raman Dada on one side of Kapurthala Chowk has been installed recently. The statue was put up in May 2003, exactly four years after he died in action .

Another recently installed statue is that of a former minister, Swaran Singh, put up on one side of PAP Chowk. Standing on a platform, the statue is visible from all three sides of the tri-junction.

Interestingly, all the statues in the city seem to have cast in the same style .Barring the multi-coloured statue of Bhagat Singh and greyish white statue of Lal Bahadur Shastri, all others are dark grey in colour with a very similar texture.

Another aspect to the issue is that most statues in city have been unveiled by Ch Jagjit Singh, Local Bodies Minister. The statues of Major Raman Dada, Bhagat Singh and Pt Kishori Lal have been installed by him in the last two to three years. Ironically, the stones beneath these statues bear the name of the minister in size bolder than the names of the great souls in whose memories these have been erected.

To make the students aware about the importance of healthy food, physical fitness and healthy habits, Delhi Public School has organised various programmes.

A nutritious and balanced menu was planned by a dietician and given to all students. They then brought their tiffins according to the given menu.

The Tribune is starting a column providing residents of Jalandhar and its neighbourhood an opportunity to highlight their problems, which are of a public nature.

It could be about a particular stretch of road which badly needs repairs or about a hospital which does not have a doctor or a school which does not have a proper building.

Want to get close to nature? Visit Dholbaha wetlands in Hoshiarpur district.

Blessed with verdant forests and rich flora and fauna, the area is agog with feathered birds, especially during the winter.

Nestled in the foothills of the Shivaliks, the wetlands are much to the delight of bird lovers. These days a large number of migratory birds from far-off countries are roosting and feeding here. Shovellers, pintails, large and small cormorants, coots and bar-headed geese can be seen.

The Dholbaha reservoir has earth filled dam is a multipurpose project that was constructed on the Dholbaha choe in 1987. It is a flood control-cum-irrigation multipurpose project aided by the World Bank under Kandi Watershed and Area Development Programme.

In the wooded areas near Dholbaha wetlands one can spot and identify butterflies, beetles, reptiles, mammals and a variety of flora and fauna. Butterflies, bio-indicators, can be seen flitting across the paths.

The lake sanctuary supports wildlife, including the barking deer, sambar, fox, boar, fishing cat, blue bull, mongoose and leopard, and a variety of reptiles, says Dr Onkar Singh Brraich, Scientist (Environment), Punjab State Council for Science and Technology.

Are you sighing over the hefty electricity bill?You can avoid a hefty power bill by using Compact Florescent Lamps (CFLs).

Mr. Vijay Kumar and Mr. Rajendra Kumar, Additional Assistant Engineers (AAEs) in the System Losses Study Cell (SLSC) of Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) Jalandhar, made this claim here today.

They say as much as 40 per cent energy may be saved by replacing bulbs and tubes by CFLs.They explained this to visitors to the SLSC stall set up in front of the auditorium of APJ College of Fine Arts, where the state- level function was organised to mark National Energy Conservation Day.

Presently several companies ,including Crompton Green, Havells, Wipro, Indo Asian and Osram were manufacturing CFLs . One of these companies had also set up its stall in the College. Mr. Praveen Miglani, Deputy Manager ,sales and marketing ,said he had replaced tubes with CFLs in his own house. Subsequently, the power had come down by half .The company had set up its sale counters at power bill depositing centres in Delhi. Negotiations were on with the PSEB to set up its sale counters at all bill depositing centres in Punjab.

Apart from using CFLs, the AAEs also advised power consumers to take some more steps to save energy which include using of different solar energy based systems wherever possible, avoid to use light indicators on switch boards and switch off the television from the board instead of doing so with remote.

Besides the consumer should design the building in such a way that natural light comes in each room and paint walls in light colour. Farmers can save power by using submersible pumps.

At the stall set up by the Department of Soil and Water Engineering, Punjab Agriculture University ,Ludhiana, Dr. JK Chawla said energy worth thousands of crores could be saved per year if ratifications were adopted while installing diesel operated, mono block or submersible pumps.

Dr. Chawla said that Centrifugal pumps with low delivery pipes, long radius bends with optimum suction lift should be used for high efficiency and conservation of energy. Similarly, he advised farmers to use PVC pipes instead of GI pipes for better results.

On this occasion, Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) also put up a stall to aware the public about using non-conventional sources of energy including sun energy, wind energy, bio gas and bio mass plants.

Mr. Gursewak Singh, Consultant Solar Energy PEDA, said that valuable energy might be saved by using solar geyser, solar pump, solar drier, solar battery charger and solar parabolic cooker.

All these items were displayed on the stall set up by PEDA. A visitor to the stall Ritika Khanna said that she would use solar items and adopt other methods to conserve energy.