Amritsar, April 23
The Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA) has detected 343 illegal colonies in the city.

Undoubtedly, it shows violation of the established norms but growth of such a high number of illegal colonies indicates the preferences and throws light on the economic aspects of the people.

It is learnt that PUDA registered cases against 233 unapproved colonies, while nearly 110 cases were under jurisdiction. PUDA has registered cases against these colonies for violating the Punjab Apartment and Properties Regulatory Act, 1995.

Mushrooming unapproved colonies underline the failure of the Local Bodies Department and PUDA in developing adequate colonies absorbing the growing population.

People associated with real estate are of the view that there are many reasons which hold back people from going ahead with an approved colony. It escalates the cost manifold and would debar a large number of people from realising their dreams of owning a house.

As per the rules framed in 2007, the external development charges (EDC) have been divided in two parts constituting high potential zone of two categories.

The category I is area within a radius of 5 km outside the Municipal Corporation limit. For developing a residential area on an acre one has to pay Rs 26.78 lakh as EDC and Rs 3 lakh as licence fee. Besides, one has to pay conversion charges depending upon approaching roads connecting with the land to be developed. Conversion charges for national highway are Rs 5.38 lakh, state highways Rs 4.53 lakh and Rs 3.60 lakh for other roads.

With a view to developing the same area for commercial purposes, one has to shell out Rs 93.95 lakh per acre and Rs 1 crore as licence fee.

Besides, for the commercial area conversion charges for national highway are Rs 43.18 lakh, state highways Rs 35.98 lakh and Rs 28.81 lakh for other roads.

Meanwhile, area outside municipal limits within radius of 5 to 15 km falls under category II. For development of residential area on an acre, one has to pay Rs 22.76 lakh as EDC and Rs 3 lakh as licence fee.

Besides, conversion charges for national highway are Rs 5.38 lakh, state highways Rs 4.53 lakh and Rs 3.60 lakh for other roads.

To develop the same area for commercial purpose, one has to pay Rs 79.85 lakh as EDC and Rs 1 crore as licence fee. Conversion charges for national highway are Rs 43.18 lakh, state highways Rs 35.98 lakh and Rs 28.81 lakh for other roads.

Senior citizen Sukhwinder Singh says that if a person decides to follow the procedure laid down by the government for raising a house, it would remain a dream for a large number of people. Senior officials and politicians involved in preparing these rules must keep in mind the need and demand of affordable houses.

However, officials in PUDA say that once a colony is approved, it offers many civic amenities and services like roads, sewerage, streetlights and other works.

Meanwhile, the 13-member team of legislators, led by Akali MLA Virsa Singh Valtoha, found 158 illegal colonies.

The committee, in its report, expressed concern over rampant violation of CLU as there were only nine roads earmarked for commercial activities.

Amritsar, April 23
Though the advent of modern technology has dampened their spirits, they keep spinning their wheels hoping happy days would be back again.

This urge is voiced by traditional potters of the Dhapai area.

At present, the potters are not even earning the bare minimum to make both ends meet and this art is literally gasping for breath.

The Tribune team visited the Dhapai area where 70 to 80 families have been engaged in the traditional art of pottery.

“We don’t require NGOs or government incentives. We only need proper arrangements to sell our products. For this, the government should arrange bigger, open markets where we should be able to showcase our skills. Our pottery would surely make a comeback,” said 80-year-old Jai Parkash, who has spent his entire life spinning the potter’s wheel. He added, “Still I don’t see any light on the end of the tunnel. The times have changed. The current lifestyle of people is more suited to English culture. In our times, the kitchen was almost dependent on earthenware - be it haandi, pan, bowl, pitcher or jug. Even children’s toys with special kind of clay were in demand. Today, besides pitchers or decorative pots, every other item has become extinct. In our times, mud clay was available free of cost, but now even after spending Rs 700-800 you do not get the right kind of mud.”

The day was not far when handmade earthenware would be kept in museums only,” his son Naresh Kumar (50) chipped in, while giving finer touches to a flower pot.

Dejected by the unsupportive attitude of the authorities concerned, Naresh has bought a three-wheeler carrier to support his family comprising his father, wife and four children. “My elder son Akshay possesses rare skills in pottery and tops in his school in clay modelling, but I discourage him from taking it up as a profession,” he said.

Earthenware and fashionable clay items are being rapidly replaced by aluminium, plastic, steel and other alternative materials. But it is admitted everywhere that cooking pots made of clay are better for health than pots of aluminium or other materials.

Rice cooked in clay pots helps cure gastric problems. And pitchers keep water cool in hot days. Another cause for clayware going out of vogue is its brittleness.

Another family, which had carried on its ancestral business of pottery, was bothered by almost identical problems but saw a ray of hope.

“It is actually our lack of direct access to people or big corporate houses, which can market our product on larger platforms while keeping our interest intact. That’s where the government can intervene,” opined Ram Krishan (50).

His two sons and a daughter help him prepare clay to paint the earthen pots, pitchers, golaks (piggy banks) and other utensils. “I, with the help of my family members, prepare around 35 pitchers and other decorative pots a day. With wholesale rates of Rs 22 to Rs 180, depending on the size of the pot, our creations find way to Himachal side or the remote villages surrounding Punjab. There these are sold at thrice the price. But we have to rely on the price fixed by the wholesalers. Here the government should help us find better deals so that we should get our deserved share,” he said.

“It is true that lifestyle has changed despite the fact that the nutritional value of food remains intact if prepared in earthen pots. Even doctors recommend that food prepared in earthen pots is higher on medicinal value,” said 68-year-old Jagan Nath.

Amritsar , April 23
Heavy vehicles’ repair shops on the Truckwali road on the back of Gole Bagh have encroached upon its both sides with the Municipal Corporation (MC) turning a blind eye to the violation.

Though the district administration has made a feeble attempt to bring traffic to the road by putting up a signboard on the road outside Hathi Gate and erecting barricade on the road leading to Hall Gate from Hathi Gate, yet it failed to bring the traffic, except three and four-wheelers, to utilise the road. Thanks to the rampant encroachments!

Vishal Mehra, resident of Katra Parja, says he drives over to the Civil Lines area from the Bhandari bridge many times a day. Yet he avoids commuting on the road. “Condemned bodies of trucks and Jeeps are parked on either side of the road and out of them vehicles being repaired come out suddenly increasing chances of accidents,” he said.

It gives the impression that the heavy vehicle repair shops located on the road have deliberately kept them parked to discourage public from using the road. These repair centres keep the road occupy all the day by moving big parts of these heavy vehicles from one part to the other. They also drain the waste water mixed with petrol, diesel, lubricants and other discarded material into the nearby Gole Bagh causing its greenery to wither.

The road in diagonal shape is a short cut from Hathi Gate to the Bhandari bridge. Thus, the commuters using the road avoid going to the busy Hall Gate intersection. It saves fuel, time and makes Hall Gate free from congestion.

Naresh Johar, social activist, said half-hearted effort would not serve the purpose but the administration had to remove the encroachments to make it usable for traffic. He opined that Jahajgarh and its surroundings areas had been earmarked for heavy vehicle repair shops, yet these illegal service stations and repair workshops for heavy vehicles were continuing their operations with impunity on the Truckwali road.

Widespread encroachments also discourages public from using the railway station’s entry and exit gate at Gole Bagh. Though booking windows for reservation of tickets are located on this side only, yet not enough people utilise the road for entry and exit purposes to the railway station.

Amritsar, April 23
Activists of the Panchayat Association, Punjab, today criticised the state government for violating the provisions of the Panchayati Raj Act and thereby encouraging the atrocities of the bureaucracy.

Elaborating further, state president, Sukhdev Singh said a recent notification of the Punjab government was testimony to this effect.

“According to this notification, dated February 9, 2010, it has been directed that sarpanches and panches of villages would be eligible to withdraw just Rs 10,000 only through cheques, whereas the Panchayati Act specifically grants discretion of up to Rs 10 lakh to the village panchayat for development works in their respective areas. Further, restricting the powers of sarpanches and panches, the state government has authorised secretaries and BDPOs as signatory authorities,” he said.

Panchayat activists alleged that the flaws in the system have given way to corruption “It is a wrong practice of putting sarpanches and panches under suspension on petty issues by the bureaucrats, without taking into confidence the natives of the village who elect them”, said Gurbinder Singh Bajwa, vice-president of the association.

Apart from this, the new amendment introduced in the system about electing the sarpanch has also, allegedly, come under scanner.

“The mandatory practice of electing a sarpanch on the basis of the two-third majority of panches has also become obsolete. Now according to new rule, only the mandate of those panches, present on the spot, would be enough to elect the sarpanch. This practice has damaged the authentic polling procedure, as on many occasions, the genuine panches would be pressurised either by political parties or police to remain absent from polling,” said Sukhdev Singh.

Another significant point raised by association members was the minimum wages to be given to village labour.

They alleged that against the market rate of Rs 300 and Rs 200 for mason and the labourer, respectively, the state government has fixed just Rs 170 and Rs 123 for mason and the labourer. The labour rates should be on par with those in the market, they demanded.

Amritsar, April 23
Plagued by contamination and a shortage of water, Ward 44 is characterised by residents who have been raising a hue and cry over the inability of authorities to redress their problem for over a year.

The inhabitants criticise the apathetic attitude of the Municipal Corporation while the tubewells in the ward need urgent repair.

“We showed samples of contaminated and rusty water to the municipal authorities, but in vain,” said Gulshan Kumar of Choura Bazaar.

It took just two months for the tubewell in Chaura Bazaar to get defunct. The similar is the story of another tubewell installed in Launga Wali Khui. Tubewells at Calcutta Wali Gali and Jattan Wali Gali met the same fate.

In case of power shutdown, there is no chance of a government water supply and inhabitants are left high and dry. Power cuts in odd hours have added to their woes.

“In the absence of adequate pressure in the water supply, residents have to open the nuts from supply pipes situated just a foot above the open drains, which is one of the possible reasons for contamination of water,” said Rajat Kapur, a resident of Khazana Wala Gate.

The blockage of sewerage is another problem. The smell from open drains has made life hell for the residents. “We cannot sit outside our houses due to the bad smell emanating from the blocked drains,” said a woman.

The major parts of the ward face similar problems. The areas that fall in the ward include Ranjhe Di Gali, Bagh Choudhrian, Hatimtali Gali, Mahajana Wali Gali, Purani Gard Gali, Chaura Bazaar, Mallka Wali Gali, etc. 

Amritsar, April 23
Finally, the Jan Aushdhi store running in the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial Civil Hospital by Hindustan Antibiotic Limited (HAL) was handed over to the Red Cross Society.

R. Sharma, Division Manager of HAL, and A.K. Gupta, Nodal Officer of the Bureau of Pharmaceutical PSUs of India (BPPI), gave the keys and store record with details of medicine stock to Deputy Commissioner Kahan Singh Pannu, also the Chairman of the Red Cross Society. Besides others, Civil Surgeon Dr Neelam Bajaj and the Civil Hospital authorities were present.

Pannu, interacting with mediapersons, said every effort would be made to provide generic medicines at low and discounted rates besides no-profit-no-loss basis to the poor and downtrodden people visiting Civil Hospital. Besides HAL, the other companies designated for providing medicines to Jan Aushdhi stores included Rajasthan Drug Antibiotic Limited, Bengal Pharmaceuticals and Karnataka Pharmas, he added.

He said the medicines, which were not being manufactured by these companies, would be purchased locally. He also asked the officials to prepare computer software, which could tell the details of shortage of medicines in advance.

Dr Pannu, however, added that it would take some time to meet the shortage as HAL had already stopped the purchasing of medicines due to transfer procedure. He said order for deficient medicines would be placed within a day or two and it would take more than a week for the medicines to reach here.

Dr Bajaj directed the Civil Hospital authorities to support the Jan Aushdhi and write salt name of the requisite medicine instead of brand name, as been the practice of majority of doctors. 

Amritsar, April 23
Students of Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, along with their teachers, carried out a march to create awareness among masses on Earth Day.

They distributed pamphlets containing informative messages among people.

Manav Public School held a seminar to educate its students about the importance of nature and steps to take care of it on Earth Day. An essay writing competition on the subject and rally were also held to commemorate the occasion. Besides, a movie ‘The changing Climate condition on Earth’ was also shown to students.

Amritsar, April 23
Former general secretary of the Shiromani Akal Dal Jagdeep Singh Narula today levelled a serious allegation against Haryana Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (Ad Hoc) chairman Jagdish Singh Jhinda of having illicit relations with a widow based in Delhi. He said he would bring the victim before the people in the coming days.

Strongly rebutting the charge, Jhinda, however, said he would file a defamation suit against Narula in the Punjab and Haryana High Court for defaming him.

He alleged Narula was levelling the baseless allegation on the direction of the Badal family and SGPC President Avtar Singh Makkar.