Amritsar, April 6
Not many people are aware that Amritsar along with Jalandhar falls in the fourth seismic zone. There are four seismic zones in India covering 38 cities.

These areas are prone to earthquake. The tremble measuring 6.5 to 7.9 on the Richter scale could strike any time. Objective is to reduce the loss of life and material.

However, there is little effort on the part of the government and NGOs to work towards making the citizens aware of the unseen lurking danger. The experts believe that categorisation of areas as seismic zones is meant to alert people, humanitarian agencies and government departments to prepare their plans accordingly. Contrarily, it is found that leave alone people, even leading educational, hospitality and religious places receiving high number of people, including children, are woefully short of adopting measures suggested by experts to resist tremors.

The state government has placed the responsibility of making people aware with the Director, Disaster Management, Punjab. The Special Secretary, Revenue, Punjab, Bhawna Garg, is Director of the Disaster Management Programme (DMP). At the district level, Deputy Commissioner and District Revenue Officer are heading the DMP.

The DMP has chalked out an awareness programme to educate common folks about earthquakes. The Deputy Chief Warden, Civil Defence, Surjit Sharma, who has been appointed by the DMP as a resource person for training for districts of Amritsar and Tarn Taran, said as per the new plan maximum stress was being laid at educational institutes.

According to him, the past experiences of earthquakes in the country have taught them that the educational institutes are most vulnerable to such natural calamities.

Having been associated with the civil defence for the past nearly 39 years, Surjit has evolved an organising plan. Utilising his long experience, he constituted a disaster management and mitigation team in educational institute to reduce the loss of life and property during any calamity. Each team is headed by a teacher of the school and college. He imparted training to over 10 schools and colleges. Besides, he is also giving lectures on the subject to civil defence volunteers and various societies.

However, he feels there are a lot of glitches in implementing the safety measures to mitigate the suffering from an earthquake. He picked up these obstacles and glitches one by one. Major area of concern lies in the walled city. As per the 2001 census, about two lakh people reside there. A sizeable number of houses are in rickety and ramshackle condition. He said lack of funds and disputes between landlords and tenants made their repair a far cry.

Narrow and arterial roads make them unable to move heavy vehicles in for carrying out rescue operations in case of eventuality. Apart from this, the residents also add to the problem as they park vehicles, including four wheelers, on roads at night.

Surjit said it was found that the unmindful parking of vehicles block the road and could delay life saving efforts. He believes in hope for the best and prepare for the worst. He said even in case of a fire breakout in the walled city, it was sometime found utmost difficult to carry out rescue operations.

He opined that in order to reduce vulnerability to earthquake, the Municipal Town Planner must make it mandatory for new buildings to adhere to earthquake-proof measures.

He stressed that each household must have a plan to meet such natural calamity. He suggested the locals to keep their important documents with a reliable person living in a safe zone. “Insure your house and household items against earthquake also,” he said.

Amritsar, April 6
Should you be liable to pay the price for a lapse, you never committed? The postal department thinks so.

Gurwariyam Singh, a resident of Roopwali village, Kathunangal, Amritsar, has been told to pay reissuing fee to get a new passport made in his name. Reason: His original passport is lost.

Gurwariyam had submitted an application for a passport with the Regional Passport Office (RPO), Amritsar, last August.

After a long wait, he approached the passport office only to be told that his passport has been “duly” dispatched to him a long time back, bearing dispatch no POO 2416.

Following a self-initiated inquiry, it came out that his passport got misplaced during the dispatch process.

Neither the postal department nor the passport office was ready to shoulder the liability.

Despite the fact that the postman had given it in writing to him that the negligence was on his part, the post office officials were waiting for “certain formalities”, to pursue the matter.

Nevertheless, the passport office told him to lodge a complaint with the police station of his area and apply afresh for this prized possession by shelling out a reissuing fee (Rs 1,500 plus the duplicate passport fee of Rs 2,500).

The police has earlier been hesitant in lodging the complaint. Later, an FIR was lodged after the absconding postman was traced.

Gurwariyam Singh has been trudging from the post office to the passport office with the passport dispatch number, but still does not see any hope.

“I have just been roaming from pillar to post to get justice. The postal officials, instead of helping me out, rebuked me for wasting their time”, complained Gurwariyam.

“The liability of the passport office gets restricted to just giving me the dispatch number. Don’t they have any liability to dispatch the passport safely, when they charge a hefty passport fee with the application for the new passport? he questioned.

Amritsar, April 6
Even covering the ganda nullah in Ward 40 could not bring any respite to residents living nearby because their actual problem has still been ignored.

While visiting the site, it was observed that due to faulty level, the rainwater that spills over into their houses in Kot Baba Deep Singh and its adjoining Guru Nanak Pura area is making their lives miserable.

“During monsoons, the situation acquires heinous proportions as 2 to 3-foot rainwater gets accumulated in rooms, leading to a huge loss to them,” said resident 
Ranjit Singh.

The higher civic and administrative authorities had also come to take first hand information. But nothing had been done to address our woes, he added.

The nullah was covered by the authorities and a green belt constructed by erecting boundary walls.

However, during the procedure, the level of sewer pipes laid by contractors was raised from streets, due to which sewage entered the houses.

They even forgot to remove obstructions constructed for stopping the sewage pressure during the covering of the nullah.

Other areas which fall in the ward include Kot Rallia Ram, Bahadur Nagar, Sarvarpura, Guru Ram Das Nagar, parts of Kot Harnam Das, Gurmit Nagar, Chhat wali gali, parts of Ranje Di Haveli and Sant Chanan Singh Nagar.

Besides, garbage dumps are another major problem being faced by residents.

“When we ask the private companies hired by the civic administration to lift the garbage, they care little and ask for money for the same,” alleged Manvinder Singh, a shopkeeper in the area. He alleged that the green belt area had become a den 
for anti-social elements and addicts.

He said the boundary walls were destroyed by anti-social elements just a few months after their construction.

Several houses have also opened their gates towards green spaces.

A dera has allegedly encroached upon a street, blocking the way. The street demands urgent repair as several people have dumped the construction waste here.

“The street which earlier used to connect the area with the main bazaar, has now become a garbage dump,” alleged a resident.

Nobody bothers as the administration has turned a blind eye towards the problem due to the connections of the dera authorities.

Old water pipes have led to dirty water supply in several areas and require immediate replacement. Damaged cemented streets and proper street lighting also require immediate repair

Amritsar, April 6
A cow shelter near Lohgarh gate is in a pathetic state for want of funds.

Gaushala Baba Bhore Wala, spread in an area of nearly one and a half acre of land since 1949, has 1,000 cows and calves and employs 35 persons to handle work.

It is managed by Nirmale Samparda, a saint society headed by Baba Bhore Wala.

A visit to the site revealed inadequate space, filthy and mucky sheds with hardly any arrangement for adverse weather conditions in this gaushala.

Baba Ram Singh, the caretaker of the shed, said this was because of unsupportive attitude of the Municipal Corporation.

“The mandatory expenditure per day on each cattle comes out to be between Rs 15 and Rs 18. This implies that the daily expense of the whole hoard here would come to be over Rs 16,000 per day. It would be only through the donations we receive from the devotees, which manages this shed,” said Baba Ram Singh.

Due to inadequate medical facilities, most of these cattle have been infected with diseases. Nevertheless, in the absence of any organised system, the cow dung here is drained down into the sewerage, thereby often blocking the outlets, making the lives of nearby locality miserable.

Secondly, with no plans on the agenda, no optimum use of fertile mammals has ever been discussed on the table of the administration.

The experts felt that besides having an animal welfare role, these guashalas can breed cattle, ostensibly to conserve native genetic traits, with the help of cow dung, adequate biogas can be generated which can provide fuel to the locality nearby, providing cow urine for medicinal purpose and the sale of milk and byproducts can make this cattle shed a self-reliant.

“It is true. But it can happen only when the administration extends its support. The money we receive in the form of donation is consumed for the shed upkeep besides organising puja, langars and regular community kitchen”, told Baba Ram Singh.

However, he said a plan for making it a double storey with more hygienic spacious conditions was proposed but in the absence of funds, the things could not materialise. “We are waiting for the funds from the donors’ side only and the pace is lukewarm. But till then, the situation would be as it is”, he said. 

Amritsar, April 6
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seems to be doubly sure before taking any action against a rice mill, which was raided for allegedly flouting norms for exporting rice, as its owner is a relative of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Chatha Rice Mill, owned by Jasbir Singh Chatha, a cousin of PM’s wife Gursharan Kaur, was raided last week following confiscation of about 50 containers of rice in Ludhiana. Officials of the DRI suspected that the consignment had originated from the mill and was scheduled to be exported to Gulf countries.

The raiding team seized several material and articles used for export purposes besides those qualities of rice which were mainly exported.

The raiding team had sealed the containers.

It is pertinent to mention that the Union government has banned exporting of ordinary rice while there is no such restriction on basmati rice.

DRI Director Rajesh Jindal said the matter was under investigation and it would be premature to say anything at this juncture. He said details of the matter would be released to the media once the investigation gets completed.

Jasbir Singh Chatha claimed innocence and said no rule was flouted as the mill was exporting only prescribed variety.

Amritsar, April 6
The fancy of youngsters to obtain degrees in foreign varsities and settle abroad have led to mushrooming of coaching centres proclaiming to have specialisation in imparting training for clearing tests like International English Language Testing System (IELTS), Test of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL) and GMAT.

Though such centres have been opened in different parts of the city, but there are some areas which have come to be known as their hubs. Majority of these areas are located in the Civil Line and posh areas. Obviously, they charge hefty fee without any check by government agency or anybody.

It is also a fact that majority of the candidates undergoing training in these centres come from opulent families. Dr Hari Om Goel, who authored a book on personality development, said a major chunk of these students were those who could not qualify for prestigious engineering, medical and management courses. However, they wanted to brighten their future by doing courses abroad as they had good family support. Besides, craze for settling abroad had entered in newly becoming rich families.

The British Council and IDP, Australia, jointly conduct IELTS twice a month in Amritsar. Even as the British Council releases certificates for up to the mark teachers to be appointed in these centres, yet not all of them hire these teachers.

Majority of these centres run three kinds of courses whose charges are fixed depending upon duration. A month-long course seeks Rs 3,000 fee, two months Rs 4,500 and three months Rs 6,000. Duration depended upon the individual brilliance and knowledge of the student in the language.

TOEFL is a test for those students interested in studying in universities of the USA and Canada, while GMAT for those who want to pursue their career in management courses.

Ricky Bhatia, running an educational institute, said teachers in his institute were certified by the British Council. He said in an open market any number of centres could be opened, but eventually those would survive who were offering quality services.

Amritsar, April 6
Former secretary of the SGPC Raghubir Singh has filed a petition against Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, the SGPC President, the secretary and other members of the governing council for misappropriation of the capital funds, thereby defying the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925.

While appealing before the court of Sikh Gurdwara Judicial Commission, Amritsar, Raghubir Singh stated that these members of the SGPC body had caused loss to the funds and properties of the SGPC and its gurdwaras and gained themselves in a wrongful manner.

The commission has issued a notice for May 4.

Nevertheless, in the petition, it has been mentioned that a piece of land measuring five acres was purchased at Shahabad Markanda, Kurukshetra, with a mala fide intention by disbursing funds from the account of Darbar Sahib, Amritsar. The petitioner has stated that the same land was leased out to the Miri Piri Institute of Medical Science and Research, Shahabad Markanda, at a nominal rate of Rs 11,000 per annum for 99 years. This deed was finalised in 2006 by spending Rs 1.75 crore.

The petitioner further objected that no permission to this effect was ever taken from the property subcommittee of Darbar Sahib.

“This deed was executed to please the Miri Piri Trust whose trustees included political bigwigs. The alleged documents, including formation of the subcommittee and its report were all fabricated documents to mislead the devotees. Infact, the two of the alleged subcommittee members happen to be the trustees of the Miri Piri Trust”, said the petitioner.

The petitioner has demanded they should be directed to deposit Rs 1.75 crore along with interest at the rate of 18 per cent per annum from the date of payments till the recovery of the funds in the Darbar Sahib account.

Besides, they should also be liable to bear another penalty of Rs 5 crore and the amount should be deposited in the account of Darbar Sahib. He also sought banning the office-bearers of the SGPC to hold any office for a period of five years.

Amritsar, April 6
The Maqboolpura police has arrested three persons, including two women, who were posing as anti-crime branch members. They arrived at a clinic in the Golden Avenue area and said they had received information that the clinic was involved in conducting sex determination tests, besides other irregularities.

They even showed fake identity cards to Dr Surinder Luthra, the complainant, who raised the alarm after suspecting foul play.

People gathered around the clinic and caught hold of the three culprits while two of their accomplices fled. The police reached the spot and arrested the accused who were identified as Pargat Singh of Gharinda, Sumitra of Joura Phatak and Bimla of Mohkampura.

The police seized their fake identity cards.

During preliminary investigations it was found that the culprits were members of a self-styled organisation which had not even been registered.

The police has registered a case of fraud against them while investigations are on to trace the other members of this fake organisation.

Amritsar, April 6
The State Special Operation Cell seized 220 kg of poppy husk from two inter-state smugglers Jaspal Singh of Nakodar and Kashmir Singh of Dogran Wala of Kapurthala district.

The cell authorities, in a press release, said that acting on a tip-off, a police team nabbed the accused near the Talwandi Thaman link road, Loharka, while they were waiting for a party to deliver the consignment.

The contraband was concealed in a vehicle bearing number PB-10-V-7578.

A case under sections 15, 25, 29, 61 and 85, NDPS Act, has been registered in this regard.

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