Jalandhar, February 11
Two Delhi-based government agencies will be consulted for the design of the proposed elevated road from Football Chowk to Kapurthala Chowk in the city. Local bodies, industries and commerce minister Manoranjan Kalia stated this while talking to mediapersons soon after holding a monthly monitoring meeting regarding the ongoing development projects in the city here this evening.

Kalia said the deputy director (local bodies)-cum-chairman, local improvement trust, Vinay Bublani, would coordinate with the two Delhi-based government agencies - Central Road Research of India (CRRI) and IIT - in this regard. The estimated cost of the elevated road would be Rs 40 crore, he added.

The local bodies minister said the department was facing some technical problems in the completion of the Domoria railway over bridge (ROB). He would take up the matter with Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who would in turn raise the issue with the union railway minister for early completion of the ROB, he added.

In reply to a question about dumping and burning of garbage by the PAP authorities in Chugitti for the past several years, Kalia asked municipal corporation commissioner C.S. Talwar to do the needful. He admitted that the dumping and burning of garbage daily in Chuggitti had been causing health problems to the residents.

Kalia said the department was considering both proposals of railway over bridge (ROB) and railway under bridge (RUB) at the Chandan Nagar railway crossing on the Sodal road. Final decision in this regard would be taken after proper consultation, he added.

MLAs Bhagat Chunni Lal, Krishan Dev Bhandari, Mayor Rakesh Rathod, principal secretary, local bodies, D.S. Bains, deputy director (local bodies)-cum-chairman, improvement trust, Vinay Bublani, and MC commissioner C.S. Talwar were present.

Jalandhar, February 11
The clear sky was a perfect backdrop for the colourful kites twinkling and flying high. Witnessing scores of families, youngsters and VIPs turning out for kite flying was enough to reveal the passion of city residents for kites.

A similar scene was visible at the kite-flying competition organised on the occasion of Basant Panchami by Virsa Vihar at Guru Gobind Singh Stadium here today. Everyone seemed to enjoy kite flying with music “Dheel de de re de de re bhaiya, us patang ko dheel de” reverberating in the background.

The event began with the administration officials releasing kites tied to the balloons, followed by “patangbazi” where kite fliers came up with variety of kites, including those in the shape of hawks, dragons and astronauts. While a few of them were with very long tails, there were many made up of transparent glittering materials in chess pattern and tricolour. A telecom company distributed kites as part of its promotional activity.

Being a government holiday, even the officials made merry by flying kites. SSP Arpit Shukla’s kite was perhaps the first one to be snapped from the strings and looted away.

Among others who tested their skills were MC joint commissioner Rahul Gupta, PTU registrar Sarojini Gautam Sharda and general attorney to DC Anupam Kler.

Coming to the competitions, local businessman Sanjay Pathak got the prize under the “unique patang” category.

Talking to The Tribune, Sanjay said, “I purchased this hawk-shaped kite two years back in an exhibition in China for Rs 250. This kite is is made of paper-fine cloth and can be folded. The bird has a 3-D beak with feet made of sponge.”

In the “badi patang” category, Rishab Chauhan won the prize for flying a Chinese kite in dragon shape. While Jaishvin Sidana (5) won the prize for the youngest kite flier, Aman Puri was declared as winner for taking kite to the highest point.

Similarly, Piyush from Lally Infosys won the prize for flying the smallest kite which was just 1.5 inch wide. Ajay was declared as the best “patangbaz” of the event for flying kite for longest duration. HMV girls Payal and Birender won the prize among the female participants.

Hoshiarpur: The festival of Basant Panchami brought respite to the people of Hoshiarpur and its surrounding areas from the severe cold as the weather remained clear and the sun shone throughout the day on Monday. Youths gathered on their house roofs and in various grounds in the town organised kite-flying competitions.

A festival was held at the Boeli of Baba Bhandari where wrestling competitions and classical vocal recitals were held to mark the celebrations.

Dramas on the birth of goddess Saraswati, Sat Guru Ram Singh's life and martyrdom of Veer Hakikat Rai, organised by the Akhil Bharatiya Kalyan Manch, were staged by the children of various schools at local Dera Baba Charan Shah, Bahadurpur, in this connection.

Phagwara, February 11
A 26-year-old youth died here today after falling from the rooftop of his under-construction house while flying a kite. The deceased has been identified as Kamaljeet, a resident of NRI Colony.

According to the information, Kamaljeet went to monitor his under-construction house at Varinder Nagar where he tried to fly a kite. He fell from the rooftop and sustained  head injuries.

He was rushed to a private hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. 

Hoshiarpur, February 11
A fake travel agent duped an innocent person of Rs 92,000 in the name of sending his son abroad. The Mahilpur police has booked Harbhajan Singh under the Immigration Act, 1983, on the complaint of Piara Singh of Ajnoha.

Piara Singh alleged that Harbhajan Singh took Rs 92,000 and the passport for sending his son Joga Singh abroad.

But Harbhajan Singh failed in fulfilling his promise and did not return the money.

Jalandhar, February 11
The Federation of Jalandhar Industrial and Traders Associations organised a dharna at Company Bagh on Monday here, protesting against the policies of the Central government which had led to a hike in the steel prices.

Federation members then proceeded towards the residence of deputy commissioner Ajeet Singh Pannu and handed over a memorandum to him.

Federation president Gursharan Singh said the small-scale industry was in complete doldrums as the prices of steel had increased up to Rs 8,000 per metric tonne.

He pointed out that out of the total goods manufactured in Punjab, 25 per cent were being consumed in the domestic market and the rest were being exported to other countries.

He said due to manifold hike in the prices, the industrialists were finding it difficult to meet the export supply orders confirmed in the last two-three months.

He said a stiff competition from China was already a very big problem for them.

Suggesting some ways to the government to tackle the problems, the members said, “The government should ban the export of iron and steel to other countries. The Punjab government should not levy entry tax on the import of steel scrap from outside the state.”

The members said they had planned to hold a dharna in front of Parliament soon if their demands were not conceded to.

Jalandhar, February 11
The district police here claimed to have busted a three member gang of drug-smugglers with the arrest of all its members and recovery of as much as one kilo smack from their possession.Talking to mediapersons, SP city I SK Kalia said the smugglers Amarjeet Singh of Dhina, Kashmir Singh of Bambian village and Vikram Singh of Khusropur village had been nabbed on a tip-off.

Kalia said they had been carrying out the smuggling of drugs for about four years. Informing about their modus opernadi, he said the smugglers used to purchase the smack from the Ghaziabad, UP to supply it to the rural youths of the district.

The SP said during preliminary interrogation the kingpin of the gang confessed that he had been bringing about one kilo smack to Jalandhar from Ghaziabad every fortnight for the past several months.

The gang members had made special arrangements in their vehicles to hide the drugs, Kalia said, adding that Amarjeet had already been booked on the charge of smuggling drugs.