Amritsar, June 11
How many of us can locate Bhai Veer Singh Marg in the holy city? Hardly any!Interestingly, not even the top brass of the city is “well aware” of the location. Actually, it is the official name of Lawrence Road.The reason for not knowing the road by this name can be that hardly any move has been taken by the administration to set up any signboard on the road mentioning its proper name.

A signboard showing way to Bhai Vir Singh Marg defaced with advertisement leaflets. (Right) an MC signboard wrongly mentioning the name of the road as Lawrence Road in Amritsar. Photos: Vishal Kumar

Nevertheless, the top bureaucrats of the city, who included the Deputy Commissioner and the Municipal Commissioner, too, could not reach the exact location of the road when asked by its official name.

Suggestions

K.J.S. Ahluwalia, a senior citizen: Needless to say that Bhai Veer Singh’s death anniversary falls on June 10, so I suggest that at least his statue be installed on its chowk. With no offence to anyone, I would say that when the administration does not hesitate to install the statues of politicians, then installing a statue of Bhai Veer Singh would be a tribute to him.

Naresh Johar, another resident: There should be a campaign by the administration to make people aware of the new name of the road. The DC should take an initiative in the matter. The traders having their establishments on this road should be told to write the address of their establishment as Bhai Veer Singh Marg on their letter heads and bills. The banks on this road be asked to write Bhai Veer Singh Marg on their transaction slips.

A brief introduction of Bhai Veer Singh

Bhai Veer Singh was born on December 5, 1872, in a devout Sikh family residing in a house located on this road. This house has now been converted into a museum. He has been referred to as, with all justification, the father of modern Punjabi literature. He occupies the same place in Punjabi as Iqbal does in Urdu and Tagore in Bengali. His death anniversary falls on June 10.

Amritsar, June 11
Residents of Ranjit Vihar and Ranjit Enclave situated on Loharka Road are a harried lot these days. Reason: In the absence of sewerage, both sides of the road have turned into a ganda nullah.

The two drains are not only a potential source of diseases but also a cause of accidents, claim residents.

“Already the foul smell from the drains has made our lives hell. Now the spilled-over sewage has started taking a toll on the roads. The coming rainy season could play havoc,” said Aman Sharma, one of the residents.

The repeated requests have failed to bear any fruit. Not a single penny has been spent on the development of the area with potholed roads becoming a major reason for accidents.

However, the administration also has a point which claimed that a majority of the colonies were illegal. An official said it was not possible to provide sewerage or any other basic facilities so soon as these areas did not come under the Municipal Corporation. A majority of these areas fell under gram panchayats, he said.

“We approached a number of times the Deputy Commissioner, the Municipal Corporation Commissioner, the Block and Development Officer, besides meeting various political leaders who promised them to construct covered nullahs on both sides, but nothing has been done so far,” said another resident.

The residents urged the authorities to chalk out plans for the sewage disposal as it was also contaminating the underground water which is already under threat due to 18-20 feet deep underground sewerage water tanks (garki) constructed by inhabitants outside their residences.

“The place is openly inviting diseases, including malaria, dengue, cholera and jaundice,” the residents said.

Deputy Commissioner Kahan Singh Pannu said they were looking into the best possible solution for the sewage disposal, though it would take some time. He said these colonies were unapproved which was the basic reason for absence of sewer lines.

Amritsar, June 11
As many as 402 students of batch 2010 of various courses of Guru Nanak Dev University have been selected, besides 34 more students have been shortlisted, by 31 national and multinational IT or IT-enabled companies till today.

Around 62-70 per cent students have been employed in IT or IT-enabled companies and the rest of the students work in other sectors.

Director, Placement Dr Hardeep Singh said “We expect similar growth in other sectors too. At present, these companies have offered jobs to 40-45 per cent girls.” In response to another query he said. “Food Science & Technology is emerging fast after the IT & biotechnology sectors”.

The selected students have been offered the highest pay package of Rs 6 lakh per annum while the average pay package was Rs 2.71 lakh per annum.

As many as 40-45 per cent girls have been offered jobs. Out of the selected students, 43 students have succeeded in getting double placements.

Dr Inderjit Singh, Registrar of the university and Dr Harish Chander Sharma, Prof in charge (public relations) of the university, were also present on the occasion.

Prof Singh said out of the total employed, 137 students of computer science and engineering and electronics & communication engineering were selected by the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in a single day at the campus placements, the highest number of placements in North India, and offered a pay package of Rs 3.15 lakh and Rs 3.50 lakh per annum, respectively.

Apart from other companies for CSC, Avaya Global and Amdocs, the Guru Nanak Dev University has been the first destination for recruitment, he added.

Some of these companies, particularly Amdocs and Avaya, did not visit any other campus in North India for placement, he said.

He hoped next year would be a golden year for placements. We expect growth in quality and quantity as well as in pay packages. Moreover, around 50 companies would visit the University Campus for placements in the coming months, he said. Prof Hardeep Singh said the university is going to start training programmes from July for the university students in soft skills for improvement in communication skills of the students.

The training workshops would be conducted for the final year students hailing from semi-urban areas too; they could achieve the same level as their batch mates. He claimed that for placement purposes, the university does not discriminate between the students of its campuses located at Amritsar, Jalandhar and Gurdaspur. Students from affiliated colleges have also been invited to campus placements as per the requirement of the companies, he added. Responding to a query by pressmen, Prof Singh said the work and reputation of all the 
students working in these companies is very encouraging. 

Amritsar, June 11
It’s the inordinate delay in the completion of the railway over bridge and the absence of a service lane that has become a bane for the residents of the Islamabad area, a part of which lies in Ward 53.

Started in December 2007, the work is still under progress while the business of various establishments on both sides of the main Islamabad road has drastically scaled down.

“When the work of construction of the bridge started, people were very happy as it would have helped them in getting rid off traffic blockades taking place due to the closing of railway crossings during the arrival and departure of trains. But soon their pleasure diminished as the construction work kept lingering on and now there seems to be no end to their woes in the near future,” said Aman Arora, a repair shop owner in the area.

“The authorities have miserably failed to provide any service lane for the smooth flow of traffic and for the daily commuters who have to cover a lot of distance to reach the area situated just across the railway crossing,” said another shopkeeper.

However, the company’s authorities designated for the project attributed the delay to cumbersome government procedures of various concerned departments, such as removal of electric poles and wires, permission of pollution control committee for cutting of trees, shifting of water supply and sewer lines, etc.

“We are already suffering losses due to delay in the project,” said P.N. Kulkarni, Project Manager, adding that the company would complete the bridge within the next two months. He said currently, the portion, which was to be constructed by railway authorities, is near completion and the remaining work of laying slabs and road would be started as soon as that portion is completed. “We are still finding it difficult for the shifting of certain water and sewerage pipelines and electric wires and we are doing it on our own expenses,” said Kulkarni.

The construction of the 650-metre-long bridge was started in December 2007 and was expected to be completed within 13 months. But it is already delayed by more than two years thanks to non-cooperation by various departments concerned. The conditions become worse during the rains as rainwater gets accumulated in potholes leading to serious injuries to commuters.

Meanwhile, a majority of the areas of Ward 53 fall in the railway residential blocks where provision of sanitation is the duty of railway authorities which was found to be satisfactory.

But illegal encroachments by certain people on the sides of the railway over bridge, known as Mahavir bridge, is a cause of concern for the authorities. People have constructed jhuggis just on the sides of the over bridge. Earlier, political interference failed prevented the attempts of authorities to remove these jhuggis. 

Amritsar, June 11
The district administration has freed 22 children involved in various industrial and commercial establishments in the district. The child labourers were liberated of grinding jobs from the Rayya, Mehta and Majitha subdivisions.

Deputy Commissioner K.S. Pannu said 95 raids were conducted in three days. The raiding team comprised officials from the Labour Department, doctors from the Civil Surgeon’s office and police personnel.

He said legal measures had been evoked against persons and establishments who violated the law with regard to the engagement of child labourers up to the age of 14 years.

In addition, notices were being sent for the recovery of Rs 20,000 from each establishment employing child labourers for depositing it in the Child Welfare Fund as per the directions of the Supreme Court. The offender is also liable to punishment up to three months and fine up to Rs 30,000 or both.