Amritsar, November 28
The government has taken a serious stand to curb the mounting pollution around the Golden Temple complex, to make the areas surrounding the shrine a vehicle-free zone by introducing battery operated buses to ferry pilgrims.

Making this announcement, mayor Shawet Malik said the corporation was aware of the pollution around the holy shrine and it has recently finalised a major project to clear the parking near the temple and make electrically operated vehicles available between the town hall and the temple. He said the government has already cleared this project at an outlay of Rs 25 crore which would be implemented very soon.

Addressing newsmen, Malik outlined various projects to uplift the civic amenities in the holy city which had been in a state of utter neglect for the last many years and said all planned projects would be launched in the coming months to give a new look to the city.

“The government is in the process of finalising a comprehensive master plan and PUDA has been entrusted with the task of transforming the city. In view of the traffic snarls and jams due to increase in vehicular movement in the city, the corporation has worked out a project to systematically remove encroachments by providing BOT parking at various important junctions. The corporation is mulling a couple of rehri markets on the lines of Chandigarh administration to traffic chaos on roads,” Malik said.

The mayor said the corporation would soon finalise a solid waste management project for which a leading consultancy firm ILFS has been given the charge. It would also entail picking up garbage from the door steps of each household.

Commenting on the present status of the ambitious Rs 210 crore elevated road project, which would connect the GT road with the Golden Temple, he said the project would further be extended at an additional cost of Rs 40 crore to the railway station and Queens’ road. This singular project would definitely ease the traffic congestion in the city.

Confronting newsmen regarding the controversy of the non-release of a 
Rs 100 crore grant from the state government, Malik said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had committed to release the funds at the earliest but the delay was due to procedural wrangles. He said the corporation has already worked out a detailed developmental road map for repairing of 643 km of roads in the city.

He said the corporation would issue global tenders worth several crores to enlist top construction companies to undertake major road projects entrusting international quality standards.

Jalandhar, November 28
The state government has decided to allot the disposal land belonging to the central and state governments located in the rural areas to tillers. The land will be allotted to the tillers who have been ploughing the land continuously as per the year 2000 kharif revenue records.

Elaborating on the scheme, deputy commissioner, J. M. Balamurugan, said the transfer of ownership would be made as per provisions of rule 3 of the Punjab Package Deal Properties (Disposal) Act, 1976. The change would be done strictly as per the rules and those cases would be rejected where the veracity of the revenue records was in doubt, added the DC.

He said the beneficiaries should be able to prove that they have been in continuous possession of the land since the year 2000 and were not involved in any litigation with others.

People who had purchased such land on the basis of continuous occupation by the sellers should apply to their respective SDM’s within three months of the publication of an advertisement in various newspapers, he informed.

The DC said the cases of persons who had applied earlier but their cases were under process, would be settled on a priority basis as per the present guidelines only. A month’s notice in such cases would also be given, he added.

All eligible persons would have to pay 250 per acre per as rent for the crop for the duration of their possession. While marginal farmers would have to pay Rs 15, 000 per acre as cost of the land, SCs would have to pay Rs 12, 000 per acre. The dues would be collected in the next three years in fixed biannual instalments, he added.

Balamurugan said a month’s notice would be issued to those beneficiaries who defaulted after paying only two instalments. If they did not clear their dues even after this, their allotment could also be cancelled, he pointed out. Those who fulfil the conditions laid down in the act should submit their claim in the respective SDMs office by December 31 this year. 

Jalandhar, November 28
With the three day frantic search for the panther yielding little result, the forest department on Wednesday suspended the operation to catch the wild cat.

The panther could not be found at its possible hideouts in heaps of straw at Pholriwal and surrounding Alipur and Munpur villages during the extensive search operation.

The forest department had laid the trap since Monday to catch the panther which injured a resident of Pholriwal on Sunday.

JCB machines were moved in the heaps of straw before suspending the active operation of searching the panther. Earlier, dhol was beaten and firecrackers were exploded to bring out the animal from its possible hideouts, amidst heavy security, but in vain. Curious villagers, sitting on their rooftops, saw the entire operation with amusement.

“The operation started on Wednesday morning as chief wildlife warden MP Rai had given a conditional permission on Tuesday night to kill the panther if tranquilizers did not work,” DFO Satnam Singh told The Tribune.

The DFO said the active operation to search the panther had been suspended but a forest team and a vehicle would keep on patrolling Pholriwal and surrounding villages for at least three-four days.

Satnam Singh said, “The residents of these villages were also asked through public address systems to remain alert and to inform the forest officials if they sight the panther. If it is sighted, the villagers may inform at Phillaur based forest department’s office at its landline number 951826-222537 or at the mobiles of its officials including his number 9814401869.”

Answering a query, he said there was a possibility that the animal might have returned to its habitat.

Satnam Singh said, “The pugmarks found in Pholriwal were similar to those found near the trap.”

Hoshiarpur, November 28
The Mahilpur police booked Deepak Kumar, his father Ram Parkash and brother Jiwan last evening, under sections 302 and 34 of the IPC, for allegedly murdering Deepak’s wife Madhu Bala on Saturday night.

In the statement recorded by the police, Madhu’s mother Santosh Rani stated that her daughter Madhu was married to Deepak on January 28, 1999 and she had given articles worth Rs 3 lakh at the time of marriage. But soon after wedding, Madhu’s in-laws started torturing her for brining insufficient dowry.

Santosh alleged that Deepak and his family started compelling Madhu to bring Rs 60,000 from her parents. When they insisted again and again, she gave Rs 10,000 twice on July 15 and October 20, 2007. Even after receiving the money, Deepak and his family kept torturing Madhu to get more money. But, when Madhu refused to get more money, her in-laws threw her out of the house.

Later, with the persuasion of Santosh, Deepak took Madhu Bala back to his house on November 23 under the condition that if the said amount would not be given to him within two days, Deepak would abandon Madhu.

On Saturday around 8:30 pm she received a message from her daughter's in-laws family that Madhu Bala had died following a massive heart attack. When Santosh reached there to participate in cremation, she saw marks on Madhu’s neck.

Hoshiarpur, November 28
As many as 12 students, including 6 girls and a bus driver, of Dashmesh Public School were injured when a speedy truck rammed into their bus on Wednesday. The school bus was on its way to Usman Shaheed (Dasuya).

The injured students were admitted to the Dasuya civil hospital and one of the students was referred to the Jalandhar hospital under critical condition.

According to the police, the school bus was on its way to drop the students to their houses, when a speedy truck coming from Jalandhar side hit the bus. The driver and cleaner of the truck fled from the scene leaving their vehicle.

Jalandhar, November 28
A show cause notice was issued today to the local Vardaan Medical Centre for allegedly violating the PNDT act on the complaint filed by an NRI lady.

Confirming this, civil surgeon J.P. Singh told The Tribune that the notice was issued on the basis of a complaint sent by Rupinder Kaur Ramgarhia of Canada.

In her complaint attested by a notary, Rupinder stated that she paid Rs 5 Lakh to Dr Varish Kumar, the centre owner, two years ago, for undergoing IVF procedure. She alleged that the centre assured her of delivering a boy through IVF, however she delivered a girl. Meanwhile, the civil surgeon said after getting the complaint, a team was sent to the Vardaan Medical Centre on Tuesday to seize entire medical record pertaining to Rupinder. He said a show cause notice, under section 20 (1) of the PNDT act, was issued to the centre to file reply within two days and if the reply was unsatisfactory appropriate legal action would be taken.