Phagwara, June 2
Expecting the Phagwara Nagar Council to clear encroachments from public property may be asking for too much as the civic body is not even able to evict encroachers from properties under its direct control.

The police is illegally occupying the council’s guesthouse for the past 18 years despite being asked to move out.

The office of the DSP, presently the SP office, is functioning from the guesthouse. But given the power that the police yields no authority in the council has been able to get the premises vacated.

The Tribune has learnt that the Nagar Council had passed resolutions and submitted a memorandum to the Punjab DGP and Principal Secretary, Local Bodies, more than four years back to initiate the necessary steps to get the guesthouse vacated.

Although the new police complex, including offices and residences, is being constructed near Gurdwara Sukhchain Sahib, the police does not seem in a mood to vacate the guesthouse.

SP Phagwara Kamaljit Singh Dhillon expressed his ignorance saying he joined his duty in this office and moreover the NC never asked him to vacate the guesthouse.

NC President Balbhadhar Sein Duggal said the matter is being taken at the highest level.

Another significant occupation, which the council has not been able to do anything, is on a large portion of the council premises by City Club for the past 34 years. Its lease expired in 1976.

The City Club, which is headed by Deputy Commissioner, Kapurthala, who is permanent president of the club, was paying a token rent of Re 1 to the council till 10 years ago when the then NC president Kharaiti Lal Gaba hiked it to Rs 100 per month, whereas the present market rate of the area is more than Rs 1 lakh per month.

DC Kapurthala Harkesh Singh Sidhu said he would discuss the matter in detail with Phagwara SDM Amarjit Paul, also senior vice-president of the club. Nagar Council president BS Duggal said neither the club is renewing its lease nor considering increasing the lease rent. However, he would take up the matter soon.

Jalandhar, June 2
Just when he was about to start a new innings of his life in Canada, he became wheelchair bound. A tragic accident enroute Renuka Lake in Himachal Pradesh brought his life to a standstill. But instead of cribbing over the loss, he stood up for the cause of road safety and launched his NGO ‘ArriveSAFE’.

Meet Harman Singh Sidhu, who has been creating awareness among the masses about road traffic injuries, its grave consequences and road safety through workshops involving the district administration and traffic police.

NGO ArriveSAFE along with Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP) would be conducting a workshop on ‘Engaging in Road Safety (RS) 10’ at Jalandhar on June 7.

Road Safety (RS) 10 is a pilot project launched by GRSP in association with five consortiums- GRSP, World Health Organisation (WHO), World Bank, John Hopkins University and the Punjab Health Systems Corporation (PHSC).

The RS 10 project has selected 10 countries across the world namely Brazil, Combodia, China, Egpyt, Kenya, Mexico, Russia, Turkey, Vietnam and India.

Talking to The Tribune, Harman said RS 10 has selected Hyderabad and Jalandhar as two major cities in India to start a pilot project on road safety in association with my NGO. “After studying the results of these two cities, this 18-month long pilot project will be implemented in other parts of the country as well”, he added.

He highlighted the agenda of his NGO on educating the masses and said they have divided it into pre-trauma and post-trauma. While pre-trauma discusses drunken driving and speeding, post-trauma would deal with the role of PHSC. “We will also approach truckers at the local Transport Nagar to educate them about behavioral changes while driving and reach out to the local communities to be a part of this campaign.

Further talking about the state of affairs regarding road safety in India, he said, “After becoming wheel chair bound due to a spine injury, I started spending time on the internet. It was my tragic accident which made me realize the need to gather information on road accidents, injuries and efforts in store to save lives. And surprisingly, I could not find much this regard. Then I started making efforts to educate the masses about road safety”, he said.

Harman launched his NGO ArriveSAFE in the year 2003 while after the accident he also acted in two ‘Road Safety Documentaries’ made by BBC. “My first documentary was ‘Collision Course’ and second was ‘India’s Motoring Revolution’, which brought me to limelight. I was the protagonist in Collision Course which was broadcast in 34 countries across the world. Perhaps this laid the foundation of my NGO ArriveSAFE”, he quipped.

Earlier in the past, ArriveSAFE has worked with Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Chandigarh Traffic Police, Haryana police, Punjab Roads and Bridges Development Board, Registration and Licensing Authority, Chandigarh and Chandigarh Transport Undertaking.

Jalandhar, June 2
Smoking suppresses the common sign and symptoms of tuberculosis and delays clinical presentation of the killer disease. By the time, the patient comes to a TB clinic, the disease has already entered into its chronic phase.

This ill-effect of chain smoking was revealed by Dr Rajeev Sharma, District Tuberculosis Officer (DTO) in his address to the factory workers in industrial area, here on Tuesday, on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day.

“Chain smokers suspect that the chronic cough is result of the cigarette smoking and they never visit TB specialist despite repeated warnings and campaigns highlighting the common symptoms of the disease. Therefore, after some years, the disease enters into its advanced stages and causes immense damage to lungs”, said Dr Sharma.

Dr Sharma said most of the TB patients visiting the government and private TB clinics are smokers. Deaths occurring due to TB can be brought down if we can successfully curtail down the number of smokers in society, said Dr Sharma.

Dr RL Bassan, District Health Officer, said around 10 lakh people died every year in the country due to various diseases resulting from the chronic smoking. He said smoking was one of the major reasons of sterility in females. He added that even the passive smoking in case of female could lead to inborn defects in their babies.

In another effort, the Health Department has urged the staff of Civil Hospital, Jalandhar to convert the premises of the hospital into no smoking zone.

Phagwara, June 2
The police, after reportedly receiving two threat letters from Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) on May 23, is taking no chance on the security front.

The terror outfit in the letters threatened to blow up 15 key temples in Punjab, J&K and Himachal Pradesh on June 5 to avenge the killing of Osama bin-Laden.

Phagwara DSP Sandip Sharma said anti-sabotage teams and dog squads have been pressed into service. He said though it seemed to be a work of a miscreant, willing to disturb peace, minute vigil is being maintained at important religious places.

Phagwara DSP Sandip Sharma said the priest of the local Sheetla Mata Mandir had received the letters.

The letters said that eight important temples in Himachal and several important ones in Punjab-Hanuman Garhi Mandir, Sheetla Mata Mandirs in Phagwara and Kapurthala, Shri Kali Mata Mandir in Patiala and the Durgiana Temple at Amritsar-were on the hit list.