Jalandhar, April 1
Residents of Chhoti Baradari, Phase-II, are up in arms against PUDA for enhancing the registration fee even for the original allottees, not waiving off the extension fee despite delay in provision of amenities, delay in straightening of railway crossing connecting adjoining Gurjaipal Nagar and providing poor drainage system.

The residents alleged that while the registration fee for their plots was fixed as Rs 1.37 lakh per marla, it had now gone up to Rs 2.5 lakh per marla, making it almost impossible for them to pay the amount. General secretary of the welfare society of the colony O.P. Ohari said the residents were demanding that the original allottees be exempted from any such hike in charges.

In a separate representation, Prof Kulwant Singh, senior vice-president of the society, has said PUDA must extend its period of construction up to October 4, 2008 as it had failed to provide amenities of water supply, electricity, drainage and sewage for long after the allotment of plots in December, 2003. He said electricity connection was provided on June 27, 2005, water supply came on March 1, 2005 and sewage was provided on October 5, 2005.

He said PUDA should not expect the commencement of construction of the buildings till October 5, 2005 when sewage was provided. He showed excerpts from a judgement saying, “No non-construction fee is payable by the allottees till the amenities are provided” and called for a waiver of the fee till October 4, 2008.

President of the society Ashok Kumar Sharma said the residents were demanding that the railway crossing connecting the colony with Gurjaipal Nagar, Cool Road and Model Town side should be straightened. “The curves in that crossing and the road on either side make it quite accident prone. We have met MLA Jagbir Singh Brar in this connection and given him a written representation for quick solution to the problem,” he said.

Harinder Pal Singh and Malkit Singh, other office-bearers, lamented that the drainage system in the colony was so bad that even 10 minutes of heavy rain deluged the whole area creating difficulties for the residents. “Due to water clogging, the roads get worn out further aggravating the problem,” they alleged.

A.K. Sikka, additional chief administrator, PUDA, said the deputy commissioner was the sole authority to take a decision on registration charges of the plot. Regarding extension of construction period, he said he was yet to check the matter. He said the straightening of the road could only be done by the railway authorities. Regarding poor drainage system and bad roads, he said it was likely to be corrected this year.

Jalandhar, April 1
Think about Bombay beaches and the first thing which comes in mind is Chaupati. Though Jalandhar has no beaches it has its “Apni Chaupati” which swings into action daily with twilight. One of the oldest hangouts in the city, the place initially had a few vendors. But as the number of hawkers kept on increasing the place was shifted and now is situated near Adarsh Nagar Park. 

This place is ruled by 12 desi chefs who pull a big crowd through their mouth-watering dishes, including pani-puri, chat-pappadi, pau-bhaji, dosa, idli, nutria-kulcha, gol-gappe, burgers and what not! And the USP of the place is availability of delicious cuisines under one roof. Amandeep Singh, a nutria-kulcha vendor at “Apni Chaupati”, said, “I have been making nutri-kulchas for the past 10 years. The response has been very good ever since I started this work. People come from far-off places to enjoy variety food which we all offer here.”

Maharashtrian vendor Bhagwan Das, who sells pau-bhaji and bhel puri, said, “Evenings at ‘Apni Chaupati’ is totally different. People throng this place in large numbers and sometimes demand increases so much that it actually becomes difficult for us to complete the orders.”

If you think the place is a big hit only among youngsters, you are wrong because families as well as oldies enjoy spending evenings at the site.

Such is the fan following that food buffs come from far-off places to enjoy the flavours of lip-smacking recipes. Varinder Kaur, who especially came from Kartarpur along with her mother-in-law and children, said, “We have been coming here for the past 14 years. Though the place is far away the plus point about it is that one gets everything right from fast food for children to a proper appetizing meal for the oldies.” 

Jalandhar, April 1
Revenue officers of the Jalandhar Division have demanded that they should be brought under the purview of the Judges Protection Act (JPA) as they perform quasi- judicial duties. A meeting in this connection was held here on Monday in which various officials, including naib-tehsildars and tehsildars, took part.

Gurmit Singh Nadala, a spokesperson for the officials, said the vigilance and the police were wrongly booking revenue officers. In most cases, departmental sanction was not sought and the official was arrested without making any preliminary enquiry, he added.

There was need to get any wrongdoing probed by the department concerned following which the guilty officer should be taken into custody, he pointed out. To prevent such acts, the provisions of the JPA should be made applicable to the revenue officials. Where was the need to book an official when the sarpanch or the lambardar had deposed with mala fide intention for getting registries or land mutations done, he questioned.

Those present also decried the practice of giving old vehicles to tehsildars, while the department routinely sanctioned them new vehicles. Often the new vehicles were requisitioned by the SDMs or the DCs leaving rickety vehicles for use by the tehsildars who performed intensive field duties, he added. Nadala warned of an agitation in case their demands were not met.

An eight-member coordination committee comprising Rajinder Singh, V.P. Singh Bajwa, Ram Singh, Hardeep Singh Dhaliwal, Daljit Singh Chhina, Kamaljit Singh Randhawa and Jagdeep Singh Momi was constituted to look into the problems of their members.

Nicole Richie is looking forward to adding another project to her portfolio — a jewellery line. Nicole is designing jewellery pieces that will be produced by Mouawad.

The Reality TV socialite, who became a mom recently, is very happy with how the production process is going on, as she is able to fit in her time for designing and looking after her newborn daughter Harlow Winter.

“It’s all costume jewellery. I like to play with jewellery and mix and match. ,” she said. Besides the jewellery project, Nicole is also an author, actress and singer and is launching a children’s clothes range and looking forward to producing her own fragrance. — Agencies

Jalandhar, April 1
A workshop for teachers was conducted by international education consultant Margaret Warner at Delhi Public School. She explained to them ways to conduct various practical exercises, identify different intelligence levels in children and ways to use the curriculum in such a way that each child’s intelligence got highlighted.

Jalandhar, April 1
Giving a boost to art, the city based Virsa Vihar has come up with a painting exhibition on the countless colours of mother nature. An attempt to bring 
people close to environment, the exhibition by Surjit Singh emphasises on the need to conserve nature for the future generations.

On display at the Dr Satya Paul Art Gallery, the three-day exhibition started on Sunday. An amateur artist, Surjit, has virtually brought to life the essence of nature through his marvellous water colour paintings. The paintings on display show his profound love for nature and its conservation. “After all we need to understand the importance of conserving nature as it takes one hour to fell a tree and nearly 200 years to grow one,” he said.

Surjit painted these pictures during his posting as an engineer in Himachal Pradesh. His paintings brought to life the landscapes of Kullu, Kangra, Chail, Shimla, Una and the banks of the Chenab. He started painting as a child and always spared time to capture the vivid themes of nature on canvas.

Although good at oil paintings, his real passion is water colours and pastels. “It gives me immense pleasure to capture the picturesque beauty of nature in any form. But it is the paintings of pine trees which fascinate me most of all,” said Surjit.

The artist has travelled to far-off places and has held exhibitions in different cities of the UK and New Zealand. He has also displayed his works in Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Chandigarh.

Talking about the response of the viewers in the exhibition, he said, “The city residents lack aesthetic sense. Perhaps that is why the number of viewers is less here. After all, for an artist it is the response of the art lovers which counts more than the fame he gets through his works.”

When asked about his best experience in terms of public response, he quipped, “It is only Chandigarh where people actually understand art and respect it as well. And I salute that spirit.”

Jalandhar: Satyam Hospital has announced the launch of the third-generation computer navigation surgery system and total body exhaust surgical helmet system for joint replacement surgery. The system will help patients in the cases of advanced joint replacement surgery.

The computer-navigation system was jointly launched in Satyam Hospital and Orthonova Hospital in 2005.

Orthopaedic surgeon Dr Shubhang Aggarwal said, “Since the advent of X-ray in orthopaedics, computer navigation has revolutionised orthopaedic work and the indications for the computer navigation aided surgery are fast expanding”.

Jalandhar, April 1
The Samaj Sudhar Sabha has condemned the proposed auction of the armour connected with Guru Gobind Singh in England. Sabha president Kamal Chatrath said in a press release here on Monday that religious feelings of the Hindus were attached with the Guru as he had made supreme sactifices for the protection of Hindus.

Chatrath appealed to the Government of India to intervene and stop auction of the armour connected with Guru Gobind Singh. 

The local municipal corporation has been lax in controlling the stray dog population. The number of dogs has increased mainly due to open garbage dumps which are not cleared on time giving food to them. Letting the stray dog population multiply is dangerous. They bark at every passerby, thus creating panic. Every area, every street and every road is infested with stray dogs. Their activities appear to peak during evenings and in the hours of darkness, but even daylight attacks on people are common. In spite of this, the MC does not take the problem seriously. Open garbage dumps and lack of will in sterilising dogs compound the problems.

— Navneet Vij, Ladowali Road, Jalandhar

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