Nawanshahr, July 26
The ongoing tussle between vegetable traders and the market committee of Subzi Mandi is giving tough time to the town residents.

With the monsoons in full swing, stagnant water and heaps of garbage are a common scene in Subzi Mandi, raising a question on the hygienic condition of vegetables available there.

Besides, one has to think twice before entering the market as it seems to be a place inviting diseases.

Talking to The Tribune, Subzi Mandi Arhtiyas Association president Keshav Narayan Bhucher said, “The market committee is just concerned with collecting market fee from traders. It is hardly bothered about sanitation conditions.”

Another trader Bunty said, “The condition is affecting business too as vegetables and fruits are perishable. With houseflies and mosquitoes hovering over them, people think whether to go in for them or not.” Since people these days were health conscious it was tough to convince them about freshness of vegetables and fruits, he added.

Interestingly, the government has already allotted a site near New Grain Market for setting up of Subzi Mandi but whenever a move to shift is made, traders start making a hue and cry.

However, when asked why the traders were not shifting to the new site, Bhucher said, “We are only demanding a separate approach to the proposed site which is adjacent to New Grain Market.

The trading activities would be hampered during the procurement seasons in the grain market.

If the traders were given a separate road and proper sanitation conditions they were ready to shift, traders added.

Jalandhar, July 26
A municipal corporation workshop - an eyesore by the very virtue of its location - right in front of the residence of local bodies minister Manoranjan Kalia will soon be replaced with an aesthetically landscaped green belt merging with the Nehru Garden.

The minister along with mayor Rakesh Rathour laid the foundation stone of the new MC workshop, a parking lot and city bus depot at Lamma Pind Chowk, here today. According to information, the MC has taken a 4.5-acre site for the workshop at fodder market on Lamma Pind Chowk for a 20-year lease period. The workshop equipment along with an MC petrol pump, a fleet of vehicles and machinery that often remained parked on the roads adjacent to the minister’s house will be now moved to an outer edge.

SE (B & R) Kulwinder Singh said the workshop would come up on a one-acre plot, while the remaining 3.5 acre would be used for parking of the MC vehicles. Since all the dairies had been shifted out of the city to Jamsher Khas, the fodder market here was hardly functional. The area was primarily being used for sale and purchase of the concrete used for building construction.

SE (horticulture) DPS Wadhwa said Rs 1.26 crore would be spent on the landscaping of Nehru Garden. Plans were in place to convert the garden into an attractive picnic spot with gates from various sides, added Wadhwa.

The minister and the mayor also formally commissioned the water treatment plant of 100 MLD capacity that had been fully-functional from the past five months.

Hoshiarpur, July 26
Development work which had been lying suspended in the district for about two-and-a-half months, on account of panchayati raj and municipal elections, has been restarted to fulfill all the promises made in the election manifesto of the SAD-BJP alliance.

This was jointly stated by minister for parliamentary affairs, medical education and research, forest and wild life and labour, Punjab, Tikshan Sud, and chief parliamentary secretary, Punjab, Mohinder Kaur Josh in a press conference here today.

Physical verification, repair and widening had been recommended for the 737.42 km long roads in the district, for which Rs 54 crore had been sought from the state government. Besides, construction of 132 km long new roads had been proposed in rural areas for which Rs 14 crore had been demanded from the state government.

As many as 50 abandoned deep bore tube wells would be replaced to improve the water supply. Installation of 186 new tube wells has been proposed in rural areas for providing water for irrigation.

Six pilot projects of water supply schemes have already been started for the supply of potable water in rural areas, claimed Sud and Josh, adding that the ongoing Sarav Sikhiya Scheme had further been extended wherein 16 primary schools would be upgraded to the middle standard in the district. Referring to the shortage of water in the city, both the leaders said installation of five more tube wells was in progress for which the Chief Minister had given a sum of Rs 25 lakh.

A new causeway between the Shakti Temple and Baba Balak Nath shrine in the Bhangi choe (seasonal rivulet) would be constructed very shortly. Management of the Century Ply-board had agreed to install its unit in the district.

The held-up work of the general bus stand of the city would soon be restarted for which Rs 5 crore had been granted by the state government. Its construction would be completed by the end of this financial year, further said Sud.

Hoshiarpur, July 26
Gopi Chand Kapur, who has been nominated for the post of Hoshiarpur municipal council president by some BJP-SAD rebels along with Congress councillors and independents, condemned some government officers (without taking any names) at a press conference here today.

He alleged that these officers had threatened and harassed those rebel councillors who had supported his candidature against the official candidate of the BJP-SAD Shiv Sud, in the election of the MC president.

The local leaders of the BJP were allegedly thrusting Shiv Sud to the elections against the wishes of majority of the newly elected councillors of BJP and SAD, claimed Kapur.

When the leaders of the ruling party realised his (Kapur’s) chances for a sure shot victory, they somehow disrupted the election meeting by some hooligans last evening, he further alleged. Now these leaders, through some of their favoured officers, had started harassing SAD and BJP rebels and Congress and Independent councillors to suppress their voice.

If the leaders in question do not put an end to their nefarious deeds, all the rebel councillors, along with people from all walks of life, would start agitation and would gherao them when they make a public appearance, Kapur warned.

He further claimed that he enjoyed the support of 18 members in the 33-member house of the MC (which had 31 elected councilors and two ex-officio members).