The MC has made a plan to dismantle those tanks which are not in good condition and were built nearly four decades back.

Interestingly, he claimed that the MC had already made a plan to dismantle those water tanks which were not in good condition and had been built nearly four decades back.

According to information gathered by The Tribune, the Santokhpura water tank had been built by the sewerage board in 1981-82 and was handed over to the MC.

Meanwhile, corroborating the MC Commissioner’s statement, Mayor Rakesh Rathour said a plan had been made to present a proposal in the next House meeting regarding inviting tenders to pull down the old water tanks after their inspection.

In the meantime, Bublani further said to avert any kind of tragedy, barbed wires would be fixed around the tanks so that no one could come near them.

Earlier, several inhabitants of Santokpura, including Jaswinder Singh and Sukhwinder Kaur, and those of adjacent localities, including Manohar Sharma of Ambika Colony, demanded that the MC should dismantle the remaining part of the water tank in Santokhpura to avoid any further mishap as it had developed cracks.

Several other residents expressed the view that the MC should not make any delay in pulling down those of the total 20 water tanks which were in poor condition.

Answering a query, Bublani said the Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) of Local Bodies Department A.K. Prabhakar was looking into the causes which led to the collapse of the parapet. Only after submission of his report it would be clear whether there was any negligence on the part of the administration in the collapse or not, he added.

When contacted, Prabhakar said he had asked the departments concerned of the MC and the sewerage board to submit the records pertaining to the water tank. It would take at least one month for the completion of the inquiry, he said.

The police is also waiting for the inquiry report to take further action in the matter. Police station No 8 SHO Nirmal Singh said proceedings under section 174 of the CrPC had been initiated in this case and further action would be taken on the basis of the report of the CVO inquiry. 

Jalandhar, March 24
Despite visual evidences in the form of photographs that appeared in newspapers today regarding violation of code of conduct by Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal, CM’s media adviser and SAD Anandpur Sahib candidate Dr Daljeet Singh Cheema, the administrators on election duties still seem to be in a quandary over taking action on the matter.

Since the case pertains to complaints regarding use of cavalcade of over 15 cars by the state’s top political bosses from Khatkar Kalan to Jalandhar after organising a rally there, none of them is ready to take any step in this regard.

Jalandhar DC-cum-returning officer Ajeet Singh Pannu said he had asked SSP R.K. Jaiswal to furnish him the report regarding their movement. “I will follow the case as and when the SSP provides me the detail,” he said.

Parveen Kumar, JDA chief administrator-cum-in charge of the model code of conduct implementation committee, too, passed the buck saying that the DC must have taken the action. 

Hoshiarpur, March 24
Though the Congress, the SAD-BJP alliance and the BSP have announced their party candidates for the Hoshiarpur (Reserved) parliamentary constituency, electioneering is yet to gain momentum here.

Following the delimitation, Hoshiarpur has been declared as a reserved constituency for which the Congress has given the party ticket to National Commission for Safai Karamcharis Chairperson Santosh Chaudhary, the SAD-BJP alliance has fielded bureaucrat and former PUDA chief Som Parkash and the BSP has announced Dr Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi as its candidate. All these candidates are new to the electorate of the Hoshiarpur constituency.

Chaudhary had successfully contested the election from Phillaur (Reserved) constituency in 1997 but Som Parkash and Dr Sukhi are new entrants in politics and are contesting elections for the first time.

The Hoshiarpur (Reserved) constituency now comprises Mukerian, Dasuya, Urmur, ShamchaurasiHoshiarpur, Chabewal, Sri Hargobindpur, Bholath and Phagwara assembly segments.

The constituency has 12,87,079 voters, of which 6,39,468 are females. The female voters are ahead of their male counterparts in Bholath and Dasuya. As many as 57,255 female voters are in the Bholath segment as compared to 53,621 males and 79,171 females against 78,079 males in Dasuya.

There are 1,581 polling stations in the constituency, of which 435 have been identified as most sensitive.

The tall claims of Congress and SAD-BJP leaders regarding complete unity in their parties proved hollow when a number of leaders of both these parties did not participate in their workers’ meetings.

Batala, March 24
Driver Sukhdev Singh of Sekhan village under Dorangla police station (Gurdaspur) was killed when his Indica car had a head-on collision with a Tata Sumo near Mallewal village in Dera Baba Nanak last night

The Fatehgarh Churian police has registered a case under sections 304-A, 279 and 427, IPC, against Sukhwinder Singh of Talwandi Ramaon village on the statement of Hardev Singh of Ratta village under Dera Baba Nanak police station.

Fatehgarh Churian SHO Inderjit Singh said today that Sukhdev Singh was going to Dera Baba Nanak in the Indica car (PB-58D-0021). When he reached near Mallewal a Tata Sumo vehicle (HR-06-7435) coming from opposite side collided with the car resulting in the death of the driver on the spot. — OC