Amritsar, November 27
The Municipal Corporation received the occupation of prime land worth crores inside old Sabji Mandi in front of Hall Gate, following a combined eviction drive initiated by the district and police administration in the wee hours today.

As many as 75 shops and kiosks were to be demolished. Till the filing of the report in the evening the demolition drive was on.

The police had made heavy bandobast with a riot vehicle parked near the demolition site.

The displaced shopkeepers alleged that they were not informed about the eviction drive and their costly merchandise and important documents had been lost in it.

The District Collector had issued eviction orders directing the Tehsildar to hand over the possession of the land to the Municipal Corporation of Amritsar (MCA) on September 12.

According to MC Commissioner D.P.S. Kharbanda, the present occupants had become unauthorised as their lease had expired long ago. They had not been paying any kind of rent to the MCA, he said. Besides, as per the orders of the District Collector the shopkeepers had been given 30-day period to remove their merchandise and vacate the space.

Kharbanda said the vacated land was categorised as “nazool” land. He claimed that a majority of the displaced shopkeepers were not operating from here since they had been given plots at Vallah Sabji Mandi on the outskirts of the city.

After a prolong legal battle the MCA had received the occupancy of old Sabji Mandi some years back. In order to decongest the roads outside Hall Gate the 
vegetable and fruit vedors and wholesalers had been removed.

As per the new law framed by the SAD-BJP coalition government the ownership of “nazool” land rests with the state government, while the Municipal Corporation would act as custodian.

Earlier, three acres of prime land of the old Sabzi Mandi, occupied by stalls and phariwallas, had been cleared by the MCA on June 29, 2004. Nearly six acres of the MC land in the Old Sabzi Mandi had been under lease to the Mandi Board and some private lessees since 1953. Although the lease had expired years ago, the occupants, despite having been allotted sites at Vallah had created hurdles in the clearance by the district administration.

Fruit and Vegetable Merchants Union general secretary Harish Taneja sent a telegram to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the Chairman of the National Human Right Commission, New Delhi, alleging that “75 shops lying locked with valuable goods and cash inside along with furniture in old Sabji Mandi have been vacated by the SDM-I” while an “appeal is pending before the Deputy Commissioner”. 

Amritsar, November 27
Now, people’s participation in the form of taxes would accelerate the development project from the word “go”.

The Municipal Corporation has mooted a proposal to levy taxes on the residents of the city. The MC officials said the final touches to the taxation proposals were under way for sustaining various projects to provide quality life to the residents.

The tax proposals would be put forward to the state government after consultations with the various stake holders in the city as well as in the state, the officials said.

The Union Minister for Urban Development has reportedly sent a communication to the Chief Minister of Punjab with a caution that all the Central projects under JNNURM would be funded, subject to the condition that the state government shows its seriousness and chalks out a tax structure, including property and house tax to sustain the execution and maintenance of these projects.

It is evident to mention that in the absence of any concrete plan, the Amritsar administration found itself in soup when the Centre refused to give its nod for providing grants and funds rolling in crores under the JNNURM.

The Central government had earlier cleared a Rs 5-crore project for providing fresh lease of life to the distribution of water supply to the residents of the Walled City and an instalment of Rs 25 lakh was received by the MC, but the rest of the amount was stalled by the Centre for want of proper maintenance project report and planning.

MC Commissioner D.P.S. Kharbanda said that the corporation had now geared up to set in motion a slew of economic reforms to get several Centre-funded projects to uplift and upgrade the local infrastructure to make the city a model city.

At a recent meeting held in New Delhi, which was attended by the Principal Secretary, Local Bodies, Punjab, D.S. Bains, the Centre was assured that the state government had been serious in pursuing economic reforms for the long sustainability of various Central projects under the JNNURM and other schemes.

“We are keeping our fingers crossed. We would chalk out plans for levying taxes in order to generate enough funds to run and maintain the undergoing projects,” said Kharbanda.

Meanwhile, talking about the water project placed on priority, Kharbanda said the government would fund this project for relaying the new water pipes throughout the city and added that these pipes were installed during British era. A large portion of these pipes has been found to be damaged due to rust and a lot of water was being wasted due to leakages.

A large portion of the 100-km pipeline would be replaced to provide potable water to the residents of the old Walled City. The corporation would soon invite tenders and the project would be executed and implemented by the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board.

Officials said the project would be executed in a phased manner and would be completed in the shortest possible time, probably by next year.

Amritsar, November 27
The Municipal Corporation has chargesheeted 13 officials of the Sewerage and Water Supply Department, while the state Information Commissioner issued show-cause notices to two senior officials of the Municipal Corporations of Amritsar and Jalandhar for delay in issuing information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

The Assistant Public Information Officer-cum-Water Supply and Sewerage Authority, MC, submitted in writing to the State Information Commissioner that on the recommendation of the committee constituted to inquire into the dishonoured cheques of the Water Supply and Sewerage Department of the MC, “the MC Commissioner vide his order dated November 20 ordered the delinquent employees to be chargesheeted with major penalty”.

Amritsar, November 27
Once Bill Gates during one of his visits to New Delhi counted over 15 stray cattle on the road while on his way from the airport to the hotel, but he would definitely not be able to count them if he ever visits the holy city of Amritsar which is being developed as an international tourist destination.

Cocking a snook at the High Court judgement in controlling this menace, the Amritsar Municipal Corporation, apparently, has not yet woken up from its deep slumber.

The court after examining the genesis of the problem of cattle straying on the roads and while acting in public interest, directed the MC authorities to take effective steps to prevent the cattle from taking to the roads, thereby affecting the quality of life of the citizens.

The Delhi High Court has ruled that their menace in the city is a violation of the Right to Life guaranteed by Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.

A study proved that these cattle were not healthier ones as they live on refuse only and scavenge for mounds of garbage dumps in the polluted streets or roads to graze or gorge it.

Consequently, the milk, seldom found among the heard, they give does not match the healthy medical norms and often spreads diseases such as tuberculosis which causes 5,00,000 deaths each year (in India).

Another problem is that they defecate on roads and clog sewers with dung. They also add to the garbage problem by rummaging through dustbins or garbage bins, spreading and littering trash while looking for food.

“The problem is so acute that they can be seen tearing open plastic garbage bags in search of food and leaving trails of dung. Squat and nap on busy roads and intersections, they occupy parks and land in residential areas. The share public spaces with humans,” said Ashok Malhotra, a local resident.

Nonetheless, herds of strays animals cause traffic jams and most of the accidents.

It has been often found that these cattle, even if owned by residents, are let loose, little bothering about the consequences they can cause.

Actually, most of these cattle come to the city from nearby rural areas where the dairy owners let them abandoned when they stop giving milk.

This practice has been increasing in the absence of any strict provisions under the Indian Penal Code against the owners of these cattle. Also because of no concrete identification system, the owners cannot be traced easily.

Amritsar, November 27
It’s been over three decades that the sewerage system in the Karampura area is faulty, thanks to the lackadaisical attitude of the civic administration which has failed to check the often chocking and breakage.

“Isn’t it ridiculous that for the past 30 years we have been compelled to live in unhygienic conditions because of this faulty sewerage where the drinking water pipes have been laid through the filthy open drains,” complained Tilak Raj, who has been living in the area for more than 40 years.

Experts believe that the basic planning of the sewerage is at fault. The basic engineering norm demands that the drinking water arrangement should be kept quite above the sewer lines and should have in no way any contact with the drainage system, but here its all topsy-turvy. Definitely, it would a cause of serious health hazard in the form of water-borne diseases.

Karampura falls in Ward 8 and also consists posh localities of Basant Avenue and parts of Medical Enclave. “The population has increased manifold in the locality during these three decades but the faulty system had not been replaced. The size of the sewerage is not conducive to actual requirement,” said Kanwaljit Singh. He said when he woke up this morning the whole street was full of sewage. He pointed out that the sewerage needed urgent repair and should be relayed.

Santosh of Kumhara Wali Gali said that, besides sewerage, there was an acute problem of drinking water. The pressure of water is so low that it never reaches home. “The people were compelled to puncture the pipelines to fix taps for their convenience. This should also be checked,” he added.

Although, there is no such problem at Basant Avenue, but they were facing different kind of problems and that of overspeeding school vans, young motorcyclists and traffic chaos in the evening when Lawrence Road becomes one-way and four-wheelers and heavy vehicles move on Race Course Road in the area.

Dr Adlakha, a resident of the area, said during morning hours school vans, which used to be in a hurry to drop the children at schools in time, indulge in rash driving, leading to a number of accidents. “Young children indulge in rash driving on their motorbikes. Ironically they wore no helmets,” he added. He said the DTO had recently acquired an interceptor and it should routinely check their speeds and take action against such drivers.

Amritsar, November 27
The Rotary Club Amritsar South, in its drive to finish “sex selection”, organised its third seminar on “sex selective practices” at DAV Public School, Police Lines, here.

Dr Baljit Kaur from FORSEE India interacted with students and staff of the school and her presentation on female foeticide was highly appreciated. She interacted with the students who gave their personal views about parents having daughters only.

All those who were present were emotionally moved by the views and incidents which these girls shared with everyone from the stage. Principal Neera Sharma thanked the Rotary Club for organising such an interactive awareness programme.

Besides, 1,400 students and staff members were present and all of them gave their pledge to “end sex selective practices”.

They promised to keep the pledge along with their other important certificates.

Many other institutions have also shown interest in organising similar programme so as to support the cause.

Those Rotarians who were present and supported the event were Randeep Singh Arora, J.K. Luthra, Kanwaljeet Singh Jandiala, D.P. Puri and S.M. Mehra.

Amritsar, November 27
The Folklore Research Academy, Amritsar, along with other institutions conducted a peace rally to pay homage to a large number of innocent people and police officials martyred on November 26 last during the carnage perpetrated by Pakistan-based terrorists in Mumbai.

At DAV Public School, Lawrence Road, the staff and students organised a peace rally to remember those police officials and people of Mumbai who were killed during the attacks by terrorists.

Principal Neera Sharma said the Indians had shown their resolve and would fight tooth and nail to protect the unity and integrity of the nation.

She urged the students to fight the menace of terrorism as a united nation and thwart any attempt of the enemies from other countries.

A candlelight ceremony was organised by the People of Krishna Square Youth Welfare Society.

Meanwhile, the Sarswati group of schools, the District Youth Congress, the All-India Human Rights Organisation organised a similar rally to pay tributes to the departed souls during the Mumbai terrorist attack.

Amritsar, November 27
DAV Senior Secondary School has set a benchmark for others to follow. It has been holding extra classes free of cost for the bright, poor and needy students who could not afford private tuitions to equip them and be ready for the competitive environment.

The 95-year-old school, one of the premier educational institutions, has been rendering yeoman’s service to society by providing quality education ever since its inception in 1913.

Principal S.K. Luthra, said the students having problems in various subjects were getting free coaching in various subjects, including science, mathematics, computers, etc. This also helped in compensating the shortage of teaching staff in the school, he added.

He said these teachers who were giving free coaching were being compensated by the management. At present the school is facing a shortage of at least 50 teachers in various subjects after many posts fell vacant due to retirement of teachers and several subjects, including environment, physical education and computer, were made compulsory by the government. He said due to a blanket ban on recruitment of teachers, there was an acute shortage of staff in the school as a number of teachers had retired.

Situated in the Hathi Gate area of walled city, the institution has been scripting scintillating success stories of glorious achievements year after year. The school remained the hub of academic and co-curricular activities where earnest efforts are being made to groom the raw talent into refined and resourceful personalities.

The institution has made great strides in all the spheres like academics, co-curricular activities, sports, art and craft and cultural and enjoys the reputation of being a trend-setting institution.

Luthra said the students were being given coaching in English, Hindi and Sanskrit also.

Amritsar, November 27
The winter is likely to push the sale of dry fruits. Except Peshauri pista, also known as green pistachio, the other varieties of dry fruits have seen a minimal rise in their prices.

Green pistachio, which was sold at Rs 800 per kg last year, is available at Rs 1,150 in the retail market. The price of the general variety of pistachio rose from Rs 450 per kg last year to Rs 500 this time.

Almond is available at Rs 360 and Rs 380 per kg. The price of almond is also linked to dollar as a majority of it is imported from the USA, apart from Afghanistan. The price of almond is similar to last year.

Walnut, which is procured mainly from Jammu and Kashmir, is sold at Rs 400. It has seen a hike of Rs 40.

Apricot, mainly imported from Afghanistan, has seen a rise of Rs 100 from last year’s price. It is being sold at Rs 280 in the market. While anjir has also seen a rise of Rs 100 and is available at Rs 320.

Kishmish is being sold between Rs 160 and Rs 250, which has seen a rise of Rs 50 from last year’s price.

Cashew has not seen any spurt in its prices this time. It is being sold at Rs 360 and Rs 450 per kg, depending upon the quality in the retail sector.

Amritsar, November 27
Member of Parliament Navjot Singh Sidhu advocated the need for social auditing in the implementation of the various government-sponsored welfare schemes for ensuring complete transparency and accountability.

He expressed these views while presiding over a meeting of the district vigilance and monitoring committee here yesterday.

He directed the officials of the district administration to prepare reports of each scheme detailing the work done along with the beneficiaries of the scheme and the name of the social representatives who satisfactorily inspected the scheme.

He opined that self-involvement of people in the schemes would enhance their level of satisfaction and improve the creditability of the government.

The meeting reviewed the progress of various rural development schemes sponsored by the Union Government, namely Pradhan Mantri Sarak Yojna, accelerated rural water supply scheme, rural sanitation programme, national social assistance programme, national land records modernisation programme, MPLAD, Swarn Jayanti Swai Rojgar Yojna and Indira Awas Yojna.

Sidhu said 90 per cent of the targets had been achieved. He released an information brochure containing details of the various rural schemes.

The MP stressed the need to hold a fresh survey of the below poverty line (BPL) families so that the benefits of the government schemes should reach the needy.

On the occasion, Sidhu released a monthly magazine “Amritsar Panchyatnama”, brought out by the district administration, detailing the development works being done in rural areas along with the funds received for 817 gram panchayats during the 2009-10 financial year.

Earlier, Deputy Commissioner Kahan Singh Pannu briefed the chairman on the progress of various schemes. He said for the first time in the history of Punjab a special database had been prepared in the district which contained village- wise statistical details of the various requirements of the rural households, including toilets, pucca houses, among others. He added that with the available statistics the target groups for various development schemes can be identified at the click of a button and the projects could be tailor-made for their requirements.

He said a special drive had been launched to motivate the people to contribute their share of money for the success of the World Bank-funded rural water supply scheme.

Among others, the meeting was attended by Cabinet minister Gulzar Singh Ranike, Chairman of the District Planning Committee Veer Singh Lopoke, Amar Pal Singh Bony and Dalbir Singh Verka (both MLAs), Zila Parishad Chairman Rajinder Pappu and vice-chairman of Zila Parishad Gurvinder Pal Singh Ranike.

Amritsar, November 27
Stage is set for the grand finale of “Mr Singh International” slated to be held at Khalsa College here tomorrow.

The contestants working hard to tip the scales in their favour and are doing rehearsals round of the clock, including ramp walk, brushing up their language, history and gurmat history. The grand finale would have three events - formal, physique and ethnic - in which all the participants would put their best foot forward on the stage. There would three preliminary rounds where the top three would be shortlisted for the trophy manufactured in Malaysia with a cash award of Rs 51,000 plus a free trip to Malaysia and Bangkok, besides a large number of gift hampers sponsored by business groups. The first and second runners-up would be presented with a replica of the trophy each, besides cash prizes and gift hampers.

Jaswinder Singh Advocate, founder of the main organiser of the event Akal Purakh Ki Fauj, said the programme had been lined up to inspire the Sikh youth to keep intact the heritage and maintain Sabat Surat with turban being pride of their personality.

He said “Sikh Gaurav” awards (pride of Sikhs) would be presented to four Sikhs during the grand finale for their contribution in their respective fields. They are Kulwinder Singh Kohli, Chairman, Frankfinn group, Bhai Tajwinder Singh, Hazoori ragi of the Golden Temple, Dalbir Singh, film producer, and Vikramjit Singh Sahni, president, NIFD.

The sponsors will dish out several awards, including for the best smile, best physique, best turban, best dress, etc.

Famous Bollywood star Neel Nitin Mukesh would be present on the occasion. Manjot Singh of “Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye” fame would also be present. Jaswinder Singh said special awards would also be given to seven teams and their team leaders from Akal Purakh Ki Fauj for their outstanding contributions to make the projects of the organisation a success. They include Khushkawal Singh of Maharashtra, Amardeep Singh of Toronto, Balpreet Singh of Amritsar, Harwinder Pal Singh of Punjab, Amarjit Singh of Chhatisgarh and Sukhchain Singh of Uttarakhand. 

Stage to depict global warming, Sikh heritage

In order to spread awareness about the grim situation of environment and global warming, a special backdrop stage has been designed by experts to exemplify need to protect environment at this crucial juncture and save humanity.

Jaswinder Singh said the stage would depict ills of global warming, and rich
heritage. The stage would also showcase greenery, birds, animals, etc., besides disaster of global warming.

Amritsar, November 27
Six players of Khalsa College would represent Guru Nanak Dev University in the five-day All-India Inter-University Boxing Championship to be held at Benaras Hindu University from December 16.

Reimbursement, when?
I have retired as auditor, Local Audit, Punjab, Chandigarh. I spent Rs 8,000 on my spectacles and denture on January 13, 2009. Of this an amount of Rs 2,100 was sanctioned to me vide Punjab government order No. 1(189)2009/8470 dated October 13, 2009, but the disbursing officer in the office of the CMO, Amritsar, refuses to disburse this amount on the pretext that the necessary budget does not exist. I don’t know whom to approach to get Rs 2,100 reimbursed to me.

— Santokh Singh, Bahadur Nagar, Gali 2, SW Road, Amritsar

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