NEIGHBOURHOOD

One killed in mishap
Tribune News Service

Zirakpur, December 12
Work on four laning of the Zirakpur-Patiala highway is expected to commence shortly with the public works department asking the Zirakpur municipal council to submit an estimate of the cost of clearing the expressway. The PWD had earlier written to the MC to remove the streetlights on the highway which were under the latter’s jurisdiction.

According to MC officials, the PWD had sought the estimate of clearing a three kilometre stretch under the civic body’s jurisdiction before work on four-laning of the 55 km long highway could commence.

The department has been told to remove all streetlights and asked to prepare the estimate. The MC officials also stated that the MC had already issued notices to shopkeepers on the highway to remove encroachments.

Zirakpur executive officer SK Sharma said after receiving the PWD’s letter the department concerned had been asked to prepare the cost estimate which would be forwarded to the PWD soon.

When contacted, SDE Pawan Nagpal said the work on the four-laning of the highway would start soon. “Tenders for the project will be invited at the beginning of the new year. A private company will be given the contract to construct the expressway on a BOT (build-operate-transfer) basis”, he added.

Nagpal said the PWD had asked all municipal councils that were under the jurisdiction of Zirakpur to submit the cost estimate on clearing the expressway. He said after getting the estimate, payment would be made to them according to their estimates and after that the department would not face any difficulty during the work to widen the highway.

“The Zirakpur-Bhadurgarh stretch of the highway will be four-laned while the stretch from Bhadurgarh to the Patiala bus stand would be six-laned. The expressway will be completed by March 2012”, Nagpal added.

This stretch is known for being accident prone and plagued by incessant traffic jams. According to the police, more than six accidents are reported in a month on an average, with most mishaps occurring at night. Mean while, work on four-laning of the Zirakpur-Kalka highway is in progress and is expected be completed soon.

Ropar, December 12
The Guru Gobind Singh Super Thermal Power Plant, here, has produced additional 250 million units this year, Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) member, generation, GS Sra claimed here.

Sra was here to inspect the thermal plant. During his visit he inspected various over hauling works of Unit No II, which has been shutdown till December 22.

He assessed the progress of overhauling works of generator transformer, turbine, generator, excitation system, boiler right from zero meter to 52 meter, inside the boiler furnace, including ESP ducting. He emphasised that unit-II must be brought on bar by December 19 at the earliest.

He also visited the coal-handling plant area to assess the work of construction of sedimentation tank and discussed progress of installation of sewerage treatment plants. He also held a meeting with representatives of the PSEB Engineers Association. He appreciated the GGSSTP Engineers and the associated staff.

The PSEB spokesperson claimed that the plant had achieved record of highest ever generation of 311.3-lakh units with highest PLF of 102.94 per cent on October 29.

He added that the performance of the plant during the year 2009-10 was much better than previous years. The numbers of tripping during this year had reduced from 75 to 61 resulting in extra generation to the tune of 250 MUs.

Ropar, December 12
A student of the Doaba College was killed while two other students received serious injuries in an accident here today.

The three students were going towards Ropar on a motorcycle. An Alto car coming from the opposite direction hit the motorcycle near near the Rayat College at Rail Majra.

All the three received serious injuries in the head-on collision and were rushed to the Ropar civil hospital.

Two of them were further referred to the PGI in Chandigarh. One of the students, Kushal Thakur, died at the PGI.

Another student, Piyush Sharma, was admitted to the PGI with compound fracture. The third, Ankush Panwar, was undergoing treatment at the Ropar civil hospital.

Hemraj Thakur, father of the deceased, reached the PGI this evening. Kushal was from the Rampur area in Himachal Pradesh and was a fifth-semester student.

The driver of the car fled from the spot after the accident. The police registered a case under Sections 427, 259 and 304-A of the IPC.

Patiala, December 12
The 15th annual conference of the Punjab chapter of the Indian Orthopaedic Association will be organised by Prof AS Sidhu and HS Mann at a hotel here tomorrow.

Prof SS Gill, vice-chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, will inaugurate the conference. At least 120 delegates are likely to attend it.

Orthopaedic surgeons from New Delhi, Dehradun, Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Pune will deliver guest lectures regarding their experiences.

A programme has been drawn up, which includes guest lectures on recent advances in trauma management, joint replacement, spinal surgery, hand surgery and tumours.

It will provide an opportunity to young and experienced orthopaedic surgeons to exchange expertise and update knowledge.

Kalka, December 12
At least 350 families residing in the Amaravati Enclave, near Surajpur along the National Highway 22, have been facing a lot of inconvenience due to the negligent attitude of the colonisers.

Residents said the entrance to the Amravati Enclave had become an accident-prone area after the four-laning of the highway as the NHAI had not constructed a subway.

They rued that link roads and approach roads of the colony, which were also being used by thousands of commuters from dozens of villages in the Mallaha belt, were in a dilapidated condition as their recarpeting had not been carried out for years.

They added that the water of Kaushalya river had continuously been entering the colony, due to which its retaining wall had been damaged and washed away at places.

They further said parks at the colony, which had not been carved out properly, were in a neglected state and streetlights had not been installed properly.

They asserted that the colony, adjacent to a reserved forest area, was in dire need of fencing as there was the danger of wild animals entering it.

The residents also demanded that a permanent building be constructed so that it could house a bank branch and a post office.

They resented that no polling booth had been set up at the colony during the last general election and the recent Assembly poll.

Ambala, December 12
Former finance minister and Congress MLA Sampat Singh has demanded that Ambala Cantonment be made a subdivision.

Talking to mediapersons here today, he said he met the Chief Minister in Chandigarh and placed several demands of local residents before him.

He stated that he informed the Chief Minister that Barara, a small town in the district, had been a subdivision.

He asserted that Ambala Cantonment had a population of around 2 lakh and the number of voters was over 1 lakh.

He requested the Chief Minister to set up a tehsil office there as the sub-tehsil office did no solve the purpose.

He also took up the matter of setting up local courts at Ambala Cantonment, which had been shifted to Ambala City after the riots after the Mandal Commission report.

He said grievance committee meetings should be organised alternatively at Ambala City and Ambala Cantonment so that residents of both could be benefitted.

The Chief Minister listened to him patiently and assured him that he would be considerate while looking into the matter.

Referring to the forthcoming Ellenabad byelection, the Congress MLA claimed that his party would win the seat.

Chandigarh, December 12
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today failed to appear in a local court in the ongoing defamation case filed by him against former CM Captain Amarinder Singh.

The hearing in the case, which was filed in 2002, was fixed for today in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate JS Sidhu.

Badal, however, sought exemption from appearing and the court after granting him the same, kept February 13 as the next date.

Badal, who is a prime witness in the case, had sought Rs 5 crore as damages, along with interest, for allegedly being defamed through advertisements in newspapers on August 12, 2002.

He had alleged that the advertisements wrongly conveyed a message that he had mortgaged the state’s interests in the SYL canal, besides the future of Punjab farmers, to Haryana Chief Minister in lieu of a gift of 22 acre in Gurgaon worth Rs 500 crore.

Chandigarh, December 12
Despite being aware of the vulnerability of using a mobile phone while on the run and living under various identities, including that of a crime reporter, Davinder Singh, alias Whiskey, could not dodge the police for long.  He was wanted by the Chandigarh Police for allegedly killing Harjinder Singh Dhillon, a financier, at his office in Sector 20 on November 25.

A local court today remanded him in six-day police custody.

DSP (CID) Satbir Singh said investigators got a tip-off that Whiskey was coming from Nanded Sahib in a train, which would reach Ambala at 4.40 pm.

Two police teams were dispatched to Ambala and Ludhiana. An SI boarded the train at Ambala and spotted Whiskey wearing a turban. Whiskey got suspicious and disembarked at Khanna. The police chased him and after a minor scuffle, overpowered him. Sources said during interrogation, he admitted to having killed Dhillon as he had refused to give him his car.

Dhillon had helped him get a car financed and gave him two sets of documents belonging to two banks and Whiskey returned the documents after signing them. Dhillon used both forms and purchased two cars in Whiskey’s name. He later changed the registration number of the car to claim its ownership.

“About five months ago I had a quarrel with him over the car. This time I killed him in the heat of the moment,” Whiskey reportedly told investigators. After the murder, he fled to Ludhiana, where he stayed for a few days and left for Nanded Sahib.

The police also kept his US-based daughter under surveillance, but it was not of much help as he did not contact her.

A kidney patient, 46-year-old Whiskey had escaped from the custody of Ludhiana police about two years ago while being taken to a court in Khanna.

In October, he and his accomplice were stopped by the police when they were coming from UP. They were carrying illegal weapons and fled after abandoning the car. The police said he had hideouts in UP, Ludhiana, Mohali and Khanna. Several mobile phones were seized from his possession.

An identity card showing him as a crime reporter of Khabarnama Times (issued by the union ministry of information and broadcasting) was also seized.

He had procured the card from Malkerkotla and paid Rs 500 for it.

Chandigarh, December 12
A local court sentenced three convicts involved in the murder of a teenager in 2002 to life imprisonment here today.

The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge RS Attri sentenced Rakesh Ramola, Vishal Bhadhari and Umesh Gupta for the murder of 19-year-old Kewal in Sector 7 in 2002.

They were also asked to pay a compensation of Rs 1 lakh to the family of the victim and Rs 25,000 each to two others who had got injured on the fateful night.

The court had earlier convicted the three under Section 302 of the IPC.

The killing of Kewal following an old dispute took place during a jagrata.

A Kaimbwala resident, Kewal was stabbed to death on the intervening night of October 12 and 13.

The victim along with his friends had gone to attend a jagrata organised by mechanics of the market in Sector 7 A.

Devinder Kumar, Gurdev, Jaspal, Somnath and Kewal were also present at the jagrata when they were attacked by the three accused.

All other persons present with Kewal also received injuries, while the victim, Kewal, received a knife injury near the heart, following which he died on the spot.

Chandigarh, December 12
Six firms were found violating the Chandigarh Food Articles (Licensing and Control) Amendment Order, 2009 in an inspection carried out here today, an official press release said.

The inspection was carried out at the grain market, subzi mandi, by inspectors of the food and supplies department under the supervision of Prerna Puri Wasu, SDM (south)-cum-joint director, F&S, and Ashok Kumar, SDM (east), Chandigarh.

During the course of checking, six firms — Rajinder Singh & Sons, M/s Surjumal Jagat Ram, M/s Nihal Chand Ram Lubhaya, M/s Ram Krishan & Co., M/s Durga Trading Company, M/s Nar Singh & Sons and M/s Kailash Chand Ashok Kumar — were found violating the conditions of the licence issued by the food and supplies department.

The firms were not maintaining the proper stock registers and rate list. Show-cause notices were being issued to the erring firms.

Such drives will be carried out regularly in the future for enforcement of the order.

Under the order, those storing more than 10 quintal sugar, five quintal edible oils, 30 quintal edible\oil seeds, 10 quintal pulses and four quintal rice were required to obtain a licence from the food and supplies and consumer affairs department.

Chandigarh, December 12
The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) emerged overall winners during the 9th All-India Police Water Sports Championship that concluded at Sukhna Lake here today.

In all, CRPF players won 20 medals, including 12 gold, five silver and three bronze medals.

They were followed by the BSF with 13 medal, including six gold, five silver and two bronze, and Punjab Police, which grabbed seven medals, including three gold, one silver and three bronze medals.

The CRPF won four gold and two bronze medals in rowing, followed by Punjab with three gold, one silver and a bronze. In kayaking, the CRPF won five gold, three silver and one bronze, while the BSF finished runners-up with three gold, two silver, two bronze medals. Similarly, in canoeing, the BSF got the better of the CRPF by securing three gold and three silver medals. The CRPF won three gold and two silver medals.