Ludhiana, August 14
An old building in Karta Ram Gali near ghaas mandi in the old city collapsed in the afternoon today due to the continuous rain for the past two days. Fortunately, the building was abandoned long ago. No loss of life and property was reported in the street as people were huddled indoors due to the rain. The debris from the building, however, damaged a few motorcycles parked in the street.

Area councillor Parminder Mehta rued that he had been asking the municipal corporation to get the unsafe building demolished for the past several months but nobody cared. It finally collapsed today. It was divine providence that nobody became a victim.

Normal life continued to be hit for the second day today. Numerous roads, especially in the low-lying areas, remained waterlogged. While on many roads water got drained when the rain stopped in between, other areas had to bear the brunt as the roads remained inundated.

People were forced to remain indoors in the Haibowal where the main road remained flooded throughout the day. “There is water all around. We are sick of it,” said Rakesh Talwar, a resident.

In Kutcha Nos. 5 and 6, the municipal corporation had to launch a water- draining operation as both areas remained flooded. Water entered houses and despite a motor used to drain out the water, the areas remained inundated.

Area councillor, Rakesh Prashar, said they had been constantly trying to drain out the water since yesterday, but the level was not going down. There seems to be a snag in the sewerage system, said Prashar adding that he had sought the XEN’s help in this regard.

Angry residents said their furniture got spoiled as the water had entered their houses. Those, who had got another floor constructed in their houses, shifted their valuables to the first floor.

Traders in the Chaura Bazar area were also in a protest mode. They said more than the fury of rain gods they were angry with the corporation for not making arrangements to drain out the rainwater. “It is a perennial problem but nobody seems to care,” said a shopkeeper.

Parminder Mehta, a councillor, said his area was one of the worst affected due to the poor drainage system. He said Bagh Wali Gali, Rupa Mistry gali and Talaab Bazaar were inundated. “We are sick of getting calls from people. They want work. We don’t know what we should do. The babus do not work and people blame the elected representatives,” he said adding that he had asked the municipal authorities to find a solution to this problem but to no avail.

Meanwhile, the municipal corporation was in the process of repairing the road that had caved in near the Leisure valley. On a temporary basis the road was being filled with the sand. Once the rain stops, it would be repaired and strengthened, said a spokesperson of the municipal corporation. 

Ludhiana, August 14
A midwife, Madam Dass, running Dass Clinic at Adda Raikot, Jagraon, has been sentenced to 10-year rigorous imprisonment on charges of aborting a two-month-old foetus without the consent of a pregnant woman.

Pronouncing the verdict, additional sessions judge Kishore Kumar held that the prosecution had proved the guilt of the accused beyond any doubt. The convict was also ordered to pay a fine of Rs 2,000.

Terming it to be a heinous crime, the judge turned down the plea of leniency raised by the accused. She had prayed before the court for taking lenient view with the plea that she was poor. The convict was taken into custody and sent to jail. Earlier, she had been out on bail.

A case under Section 313 of the IPC had been registered against the accused at the Jagraon police station following the statement of Seema, a resident of Jagraon, on March 17, 2005.

The complainant had stated that on March 15, 2005 she had gone to the clinic of the accused after suffering abdominal pains.

After examining her, the accused told her that she was two months pregnant.

She was told that the condition of the foetus was not proper and abortion needed to be done.

The complainant refused to do so and asked for medicine. However, against her consent, the accused got the foetus aborted, added the complainant. Thereafter, her condition deteriorated and was admitted to the Jagraon civil hospital.

Sensing serious condition, the patient was referred to the Government Rajindra Hospital, Patiala, from where she was referred to the PGI, Chandigarh, where she was treated.

The accused pleaded false implication in the case. However, the court found that the accused had not alleged any previous enmity with the complainant.

The prosecution examined eight witnesses, including a doctor of the PGI, Chandigarh, in the case.

Ludhiana, August 14
A money changer who resides on the Gill Road was caught stealing power during a surprise check carried out by field staff of the Punjab State Electricity Board here on Wednesday. The defaulting commercial establishment has been slapped with a penalty of Rs 3.19 lakh.

According to officials of the electricity board’s Janta Nagar division, they found the seals of the metre, installed at the money changer’s premises, broken with apparent marks of tampering also visible.

“The power supply to the consumer was immediately disconnected and the metre taken to ME laboratory for testing where it was found to be moving slow by nearly 60 per cent. A few components of the metre were also fiddled with in order to slow it down considerably,” the officials added.

Earlier on the same day, power connections of a number of residents and shopkeepers in the Kot Mangal Singh locality were inspected. 

Ludhiana, August 14
Law and order situation in Jammu and Kashmir are giving sleepless nights to the hosiery industry as business has come to a complete halt. Manufacturers have suffered losses worth crores of rupees.

The state accounts for major share in the total domestic demand and many small enterprises rely only on Jammu and Kashmir for their business.

The recent increase in the intensity of problems has added to the worries of manufacturers, who were expecting big business this season.

Truckloads of goods have been in transit while large quantities are lying in godowns of sellers themselves or transporters.

“The escalation of violence has added to our worries. The beginning of the season saw encouraging demand from the state and manufacturers had expected the upward trend to continue. Many had even increased their production to cater to the increased demand from the buyers,” said Vinod K. Thapar, president, Knitwear Club.

By this time of the year, supplies to Jammu and Kashmir reach its peak. As business activity has been hit hard, manufacturers are confused as to what strategies they should adopt now.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, August 14
With basic amenities missing at the local bus stand, the recent spell of rains has converted it into a massive pool. Water collected in the compound has not only been posing inconvenience to passengers but also keeping a large number of buses out of the reach of passengers.

A majority of bus drivers, irrespective of their routes, prefer to divert from Pohir village instead of coming to the bus stand. The problem has been compounded due to poor drainage. Water from lavatories and sewage gets mixed with rainwater, making it impossible for people to wade through it.

“Even a brief spell of rain leaves the bus stand waterlogged. This is official apathy at its worst,” said Karnail Singh, a resident who commutes to his office in Ludhiana by bus everyday.

The problem is more severe at the exit gate, where huge potholes have made the access to vehicles difficult.

“Though we have been impressing upon the authorities in the transport department and Pepsu Road Transport Corporation, nothing concrete has been done in this regard. With the result, residents of the area have started using alternative means for transport to nearby towns and cities,” said councillor Bimal Sharma and former municipal council president Jatinder Bhola. The leaders alleged that only a fraction of buses plying on the route actually reached the bus stand on rainy days.

They claimed that the authorities had initiated action in this regard only in paper. Almost all buses are being shown coming to the bus stand daily. Operators of buses, other than those of the PRTC, have to pay an “adda fee” for every trip.

Besides facing inconvenience, passengers, including women, children, old persons and students, have to suffer monetary loss as they have to hire private auto-rickshaws to reach Pohir village to catch buses for their destination.

Mandi Gobindgarh, August 13
Income Tax officials raided the premises of an office that was exporting and importing iron goods of various industrial units without paying taxes. The officials recovered fake government stamps, bill books, VAT-36 forms, stamped computerised slips and a large number of chequebooks.

At least 12 Income Tax officials, including three excise and taxation officers along with a police team of police, on Monday raided three such offices housed in B.D. Complex. The owners of these offices are said to have been exporting and importing iron and steel goods of a few industrial units of Mandi Gobindgarh without paying the taxes.

The truckers were given fake bills and computerised slips for delivering the goods in various parts of the country, said the income tax officials. “We will get a case registered against them after scrutinising the seized documents. The evasion may go up to Rs 15 crore or more with a transaction of around Rs 100 crore,” said an Income Tax inspector.

The officials revealed that a large number of stamped VAT-36 forms, bill books in the name of fake industrial units and 14 chequebooks of different accounts were recovered from these offices.

The blank bill books are in name of firms located in Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and Bhadra. “They used to give fake bills for exporting and importing iron material of different firms. The industrial units used to approach these people to get their goods delivered outside Punjab without paying taxes,” the officials revealed.

One of the inspectors said earlier, when Income Tax officials inspected their documents while goods were being transported, the documents were found to be complete. “The truckers were given fake bills and even managed to get fake copies of computerised slips of various check centres and tax barriers of the state,” he said.

The kingpin of this business has been identified as Balwinder Singh, alias Babu Ram, who got the bill books of about 12 companies to hoodwink the authorities.

The bill books were found to be in the name of Chander Mohan Bhatia and Sons, Prem Sharma and Sons, Jangra Impacts Industries, Ludhiana, Servo Industries, Benipal Steel Industries, Mandi Gobindgarh, Shri Ram Ji Steel, Mandi Gobindgarh, GR Books of Bombay Road Carrier, Mandi Gobindgarh, National Road Transportation, Mandi Gobindgarh and 7GR Sunrise Cargo, Mandi Gobindgarh.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, August 14
Malerkotla SDM Jaspal Singh Jassie, former administrator of local municipal council, handed over the charge of the office to newly elected president Usha Rani Sood.

The charge was given in compliance of notification issued by the principal secretary, local government, Punjab.

Office-bearers and activists of some political, social, educational and religious organisations attended the function.

Thanking residents and councillors for reposing faith in her, Sood promised to provide a transparent administration and ensure that basic amenities were made available to all residents.

She called upon the office-bearers of various organisations of the town to interact with councillors from their respective areas and contribute to the development of their localities.

Former minister Abdul Gaffar, in-charge SAD, assured the residents of impressing upon chief minister Parkash Singh Badal to sanction grants for the development of the town.

DSP Gurpreet Singh Sikand and executive officer K.S. Brar were among others who addressed the gathering.

Councillors Bimal Kumar Sharma, Surinder Kumar, Khushi Mohamad, Manjit Devi Chuadhary, Ravinder Puri, Dilshad Ahmed, Jiwan Singh, Bhag Singh Bhaga, Avtar Singh Dhaler, and Kedar Nath Kapila were also present. 

Ludhiana, August 14
Contrary to the claims of the district health authorities of having the situation under control, dengue recently claimed the life of a resident of Threekay village.

The boy after undergoing treatment at the primary health centre in village, Bhanot, was referred to a hospital in Ludhiana, where he was tested positive for dengue.

But doctors were unable to save him as his condition deteriorated by the time he was admitted.

City hospitals in the past two weeks have been getting patients with symptoms similar to that of dengue. However, the office of the civil surgeon maintains that they have received just two cases from the district.

An official working at a health centre, on the condition of anonymity, said health authorities were deliberately missing on the reported cases of dengue despite getting timely reports from private hospitals.

At the same time, Jagjivan Singh has accused the DMCH of negligence, adding that his father Balwant Singh who was undergoing treatment at the department of urology was tested positive of dengue but nobody from his family was informed.

Suspecting anomaly, Jagjivan Singh said: “We were in for a shock when a team of health officials from the office of civil surgeon visited our house on August 12 informing us that my father was suffering from dengue.”

“I immediately called up the DMCH to check the same but they denied. What was more shocking was the chart that was subsequently added to my father’s reports the next day confirmed his dengue test as positive,” alleged Jagjivan.

Thereafter, authorities at the civil surgeon office refused to hand over any reports to Balwant Singh’s family, further adding to their woes.

The family has given a representation to DMCH medical superintendent Dr Sandeep Puri to look into the matter.

Dr Puri said hospital was reporting every case to the civil surgeon office. He, however, denied receiving any representation from Jagjivan Singh.

Prabhjot, a resident of Hassanpur village, said suspecting more dengue cases at the village, a team from the civil surgeon’s office had collected blood samples from the village.

Dr S.P. Sharma, civil surgeon, said they had just two reported cases of dengue and confirmed the death of a male at Threekay village. “The department is doing its best to deal with situation. The teams of doctors along with paramedical staff are visiting all places in the city and peripheries that have suspected dengue cases but it is the duty of Ludhiana municipal corporation to look into the sanitation conditions,” the civil surgeon said.

EDUCATION

Rain plays spoilsport
GADVASU poll postponed
Shivani Bhakoo
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 14
Uninterrupted rain disrupted the normal life in the city. Till today morning, in last 24 hours, 84.2mm of rain were recorded in the city.

Heavy rain played spoilsport with youngsters here today. Students of Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) had to postpone their elections. Talking to The Tribune, Amritpal Singh Sekhon, president of the varsity said due to very low attendance at the campus, they had to postpone their event.

"We had done all the preparations. All office-bearers of the union are generally elected unanimously. Elections will now held next week," he said.

At Guru Nanak Khalsa College for Women, students, faculty and management had to face tough times due to heavy rains and water-logging in the college lawns. The college was celebrating the festival of Teej today. The function started two hours late and stalls had to be shifted inside the auditorium. Folk singer Amar Noori entertained the students. Though drenched in rainwater, many students enjoyed every moment of the progaramme with singer getting good round of applause.

Seeing the persisting weather conditions, the management of DD Jain College here organised their Teej celebrations inside the auditorium, where students performed giddha and other folk songs. Namita Gupta, a student said, "Rains have dampened our spirits. During every Teej celebrations, we used to take swings and enjoyed in the gardens but now we are forced to remain indoors." she complained adding that there was comparitively low attendance this time.

Total 253.6mm of rains were recorded in Ludhiana, which has broken all the previous records in the month of August. It is not that city alone is witnessing heavy monsoons, the highest rainfall of 670mm has been recorded till date in Punjab.

Dr G.S. Bains, head of the agro-meteorological department of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) informed that in next 24 hours, mild to heavy rainfall was expected in and around the city.

Ludhiana, August 14
The students of Green Land Senior Secondary Public School celebrated Rakhi in a unique manner. Boys and girls of the school made Rakhis in the school and tied the sacred thread on the pole of the Tri-colour and the massive picture of Bharat Mata crafted from wood.

The students took a pledge to safeguard their country from all dangers within and outside.

Raksha Bandhan celebrated at Spring Dale School

Spring Dale Senior Secondary Public School celebrated Rakhi in a traditional way. A Rakhi-making competition was also organised for the students of Class I to VIII.

Results of Rakhi competition: Class I: 1 Purvanshi, 2 Kajal, 3 Rubalpreet.

Class II: 1 Bableen Kaur, 2 Simratpal, 3 Parminder.

Class III to V: 1 Arjun Saini, 2 Taranveer Kaur, 3 
Kamiya Passi. 

Jagraon, August 14
SDJM Mandeep Kaur Bedi today extended the judicial remand of the five accused in the explosives seizure case till August 28.

The police had seized 34.5 kg explosives from Amrik Singh, Daljit Singh, Sarbjit Singh and later arrested Gurbhej Singh, alias Sonu, and Manjeet Singh, alias Meeta, in the case.

Meanwhile, Gurdev Singh, father of Sarbjit Singh, has written to the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, chairman of the Human Rights Commission, and the chief minister claiming his son’s innocence.

He has alleged that inspector Tehal Singh, sub-inspector Gurcharan Singh and some other policemen had kidnapped his son around 4 pm on June 26 from the Taptej Singh market in Moga without the recovery of any incriminating article and later implicated him in the case.

Gurdev Singh claimed that his son was kidnapped by policemen in mufti and the FIR was registered the same day at 9 pm.

A case under Sections 121, 121-A,122, 123, 120-B, IPC, and Sections 3,4 and 5, Explosives Act, was registered at the Jagraon police station.

The human rights commission has issued notice to ADGP, SSP Moga and SSP Ludhiana asking them to submit a report.

A similar complaint has also been sent to the Punjab Human Rights Commission by the wife of Amrik Singh of Parvana Nagar, Moga. The police has started inquiry as per the orders of the Punjab Human Rights Commission.

Mandi Gobindgarh, August 14
At least 852 persons were examined during a health camp held at Ambey Majra village, near here, yesterday.

Speaking at the inaugural function of the camp, principal secretary Vijay Kain, who was the chief guest, said under the directions of health and family welfare minister Laxmi Kant Chawala, the department had launched various schemes to improve the health of people in slum areas of the state.

Under one of the schemes, students in schools would be medically examined free of cost.

The function was presided over by Amloh SDM Poonamdeep Kaur, while civil surgeon Dr Satwant Bhalla welcomed the guests.

People were advised to bring cases of delivery to civil hospitals for the safety of mother as well as child.

A team of doctors led by deputy district medical commissioner Garbinder Kaur Brar, Chanarthal Kalan SMO Amrik Kaur, Amloh SMO Sarjit Singh, Mandi Gobindgarh SMO Ranjit Singh and Bassi Pathana SMO Kuldip Singh Kang took part in the camp.

An exhibition depicting various health programmes was also organised.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, August 14
Thousands of students from various schools of the town and surrounding areas were examined by doctors at camps organised at health centres falling under the area of district Ludhiana and Sangrur. The camps were organised as a part of the Independence Day celebrations.

About 1000 students from MGMN Senior Secondary School, Islamia Public High School, Kennedy Public High School, DAV High School and Government Elementary School, Susheel Basti, were examined for various ailments at the camp organised jointly by health authorities and Lions Club at local community health centre today. As almost all roads and streets of the town were flooded due to rains, the authorities had to transport students in hospital ambulance.

According to district health officer, Sangrur, Dr K.C. Goyal, a team of doctors led by Dr K.S. Khurana, provided deworming course and supplementary micronutrients to the students who had been infected by certain pathogens. To compensate deficiency of fluoride radicals, tablets and syrups containing desired doses of fluoride were provided.