Jalandhar, May 8
Punjab is soon in the process of procuring advanced equipment worth Rs 10 crore for combating any natural disaster.

A committee for the purpose has been set up with Jalandhar Divisional Commissioner S.R. Ladhar as its nodal officer. The committee has already finalised the list of items that have to be purchased for all municipal corporations and committees of the state.

One of the most important items to be purchased is a sky ladder that can go up to 55 m. Since there are no manufacturers in India selling ladders that can go beyond 32 m, the Divisional Commissioner said online international bids would be finalised for the purpose by the next week.

He said the need for the purchase of a hydraulic ladder had arisen because of the fact that many high-rise buildings had come up in the main cities. “Reaching out to the rescue of people caught up in the topmost floors of such building in shortest possible time during earthquakes or fire has become a major challenge for the firemen,” he opined.

The other equipment that have been listed out include motorcycles which can enter the narrow lanes of bazaars in case of any disaster, JCBs, boats and high-voltage lights. The panel is in the process of finalising tenders for the purpose.

The MC Commissioner of Ludhiana, firefighting officers of Amritsar and Jalandhar, SE (O&M) of MC, Jalandhar, DCFA, Jalandhar, SP, Traffic, Jalandhar, and civil defence officers are other members on the panel.

While all corporations and committees of Punjab had been buying things at their own ends with the approval of the Local Government Department, it is for the first time that the purchase is being done in a pooled manner for the entire state.

Ladhar said a demonstration of the existing items with the Fire Department had revealed that other items, including fire extinguishers, water canons and jackets, were already available in adequate numbers. “An amount of Rs 20 crore has been made available with us. We are likely to spend just half the amount as of now,” he pointed out.

Jalandhar, May 8
The aspirants from the region have put up a bad show at the civil services exams, the results of which were out a few days back.

Despite being an educational hub for the past one-and-a-half-century, Jalandhar has failed to contribute to the national pool of civil administrators this year.

District Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar also couldn’t register any achievers on the civil services list.

District Hoshiarpur, which was once considered a nursery of civil servants and bureaucrats, and was regarded as a major education hub in post-partition Punjab, also failed to make its presence felt on the list.

However, Kapurthala proved a face-saver for the region as one candidate from the district cleared the exam.

As per information gathered from the offices of the Department of Public Relations of all these districts, no such case, except one, has surfaced, in all the four districts, even three days after the announcement of results.

“Had there been any such achievement, it would have been reported in the press or TV. Even after three days, there is no such information”, said an official.

Although no rule of thumb exists to theorise any concept for the decreasing contribution of Doaba in the civil services pool, educationists are of the opinion that several social factors and changing patterns of education have dented the role of the region in this field.

“Owing to the prevalent desire to reach foreign shores, students in this region pursue courses with a short duration instead of graduation. Here, most of the students opt for courses with a short duration related to computers and information technology. This trend, though does exist, is less prevalent in other regions of the state, where the culture of going to arts colleges still exists,” said Prof KK Ghai, retired Head of Department of Political Science, DAV College, Jalandhar.

“The irony of Doaba is that the middle class intelligentsia is heading abroad and the foreign inflow of money plays spoilsport on the work culture and hard working attitude of the youth in the region. However, there’s a flip side, such examinations are speculative and need years of hard work,” said Dr Jaswant Singh of SD College, Hariana, Hoshiarpur.

Hoshiarpur, May 8
Resentment prevails among the inhabitants of Aslamabad against the engineering staff of the local Municipal Council (MC) for allegedly allowing contractors to use substandard material in the various development works in the town.

Jai Gopal Dhiman, Founder President of the Social Democratic Party of India, and former Vice-President of the MC Tarlochan Singh in a press release here this evening alleged that on account of the use of substandard material, the recently constructed drain to carry the sewage collapsed following the light shower yesterday.

They apprehended that all the works recently got done by the MC in the city would collapse in the coming monsoon.

They further alleged that the contractors of the MC were doing construction works of various projects with substandard material and the engineering staff of the MC was sleeping without doing any check.

They demanded inquiry into the entire construction work and action against the culprits. The Executive Officer of the MC was not available for his comments. 

Nawanshahr, May 8
The women of Quila Mohalla area today held a demonstration in front of the Municipal Council office to protest against the lack of basic civic amenities like drinking water, sewerage and drainage of sullage.

“In the absence of basic civic amenities especially sewerage and drainage of sullage water, the residents have to quarrel with each other on the issue of draining out of water,” said Manjit Kaur, a social activist adding that the stagnating water in the streets cause a lot of inconvenience for the residents as well as it poses a serious health hazard.

The residents have brought their problems into the notice of the authorities, right from the Municipal Councillor to Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal but to no avail, rued Manjit Kaur.

Phagwara, May 8
A newlywed man, Sarabjit Singh, committed suicide by hanging himself with a rope from the ceiling of a room in his house at Nangal Colony here today.

An ongoing quarrel with his wife Santosh, alias Toshi, was said to be the reason for Sarabjit to take the extreme step. Sarabjit was married to Santosh of Dhandey village, near Goraya, only two months back. Sarabjit had got suspicious of his wife on hearing some telephone calls received by her.

Santosh left her in-laws house last month. Family members of the deceased alleged that Santosh and her parents were threatening Sarabjit, which led to the tragedy.

A case has been registered under sections 306 and 34 of the IPC against Santosh, her mother Satya Devi, brother Kala and father Sarwan Dass.

The body of Sarabjit was sent to the Civil Hospital for post-mortem examination.

Nakodar, May 8
The police busted a three-member inter-district gang of killers and robbers by arresting its one member, Mukhtiar Singh, alias Bunty, resident of Taj Mohan Nagar, Jalandhar, last night.

DSP Rajinder Singh said Mukhtiar Singh was waiting for his two other accomplices to commit some crime, when on a tip-off, a police party nabbed him near Bein on the outskirts of Bajuha Khurad village and impounded his motorcycle. Two other gang members, identified as Gurpreet Singh and Sunil of Bast Sheikh, Jalandhar, were absconding.

The DSP disclosed that the police recovered a sharp-edged weapon, cutter, 10 mobile phones snatched from people and more than 12 tolas of gold ornaments, including five pairs of earrings, one bracelet and one ring, from him.

The gang was operating in Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Nawanshahr and Hoshiarpur districts and the gang members were wanted in more than 30 cases of robberies and murders.

The DSP said Mukhtiar Singh confessed to be involved in various criminal incidents, including looting of two women passengers in a minibus near Bajuha Khurad village on April 12. The gang members were involved in various killing and looting incidents in Nakodar, Lambrra, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Maqsoodan, Bhogpur, Adampur, etc.

The arrested robber was produced before the local Judicial Magistrate who remanded him in police custody for three days. Cases under sections 302, 382 and 392 of the IPC were registered.