Jalandhar, July 28
Though the Municipal Corporation (MC) has started a slew of greenery projects and beautification drives in the ongoing monsoon season but a majority of the existing greenbelts in the city are virtually crying for immediate attention.

Courtesy: lack of proper upkeep and efforts to maintain the greenbelts. It is owing to the lack of planning in increasing the greenbelts that the green cover of the city has been on a constant decline and the city has rather turned into a concrete hub.

While some of the well-maintained greenbelts, adding beauty to the city, were razed for the construction of the Khalsa College flyover and the recently inaugurated BMC flyover, the other greenbelts have been left at the mercy of the MC authorities.

A vast stretch of green belts across the city reflect the growth of wild grass, broken boundary walls, displaced grills and at some places big ponds of stagnant water too. The Tribune conducted a random survey of the city greenbelts and found that barring some exceptions all require immediate care to save the existing greenery.

One of the major greenbelts developed around six years back on one side of PAP Chowk is at present nothing short of an eyesore. This greenbelt, which was once an attraction for commuters, has now sadly turned into a urinal by passengers commuting towards Amritsar and Pathankot.

Since all the Punjab Roadways and private buses halt at PAP Chowk, the condition of the green belt has deteriorated. While some vendors park their handcarts in the greenbelt, stink and pile of garbage have been adding to its poor maintenance.

Similarly, another old greenbelt at BMC Chowk at present has been reduced to nothing. All that one can find on this greenbelt situated on a side of the statue of former Chief Minister Punjab Beant Singh is concrete steps with little plantation in them. Last year, this greenbelt was razed during the construction at BMC chowk.

Expressing concern, Dr Jaswinder Singh Bilga, former Executive Engineer, Horticulture Department, who retired from the MC and played a major role in planning and developing greenbelts of the city, said, “At present the city has around 3 to 4 per cent of green cover as compared to the required 10 per cent. The MC should compensate this loss by designating some greenbelts and revamping the existing parks of the city.”

In fact, the green initiatives in the city almost took a back seat in the absence of any horticulturist in the MC. Ever since Dr Bilga retired from the post last year, the post has been lying vacant. “It is a pity that the majority of the greenbelts are lying in utter neglect, while some have already been razed. We had developed the green cover of this city by planning the upkeep of roundabouts, parks and greenbelts and joining hands with private companies as well,” he added.

Another such well-maintained greenbelt situated near St Joseph’s School towards Jalandhar Cantonment also paid a heavy price for the construction of the Khalsa College fly over. This green belt comprised tall eucalyptus trees, ornamental flowers, decorative plants and a beautiful lawn, which added charm to the surroundings.

However, amid this neglected picture, there is a ray of hope too. The greenbelt at Workshop Chowk till the DAV College can be described as the one of best maintained areas.

While one part of the green belt on Workshop Chowk is being maintained by a local hospital, the other side by Hans Raj Mahila Maha Vidyalaya (HMV). DAV Ayurvedic College is maintaining some herbal gardens with useful medicinal plants on this stretch.

Mayor Rakesh Rathour was not available for comments. However, MC sources highlighted that major greenery and beautification projects are already underway, which also include the development of central verges on the roads. “At present the work on the development of central verges is going on in full swing at the entire stretch of Nakodar Chowk to Patel Chowk. Even the footpaths are also being refurbished along the Doordarshan Kendra, Jalandhar. Gardeners have been deputed to prune weeds and plantation drives have already begun,” the sources added.

Jalandhar, July 28
While the Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Corporation (PMIDC) and its consultant company held a workshop in the office of the Municipal Corporation (MC) on Tuesday evening to invite suggestions for the mobility plan of the city for the next 20 years, several councillors and officials preferred to rather give it a miss.

None of the important MC representatives, including Senior Deputy Mayor Kamaljit Bhatia, Deputy Mayor Parvesh Tangri, and Finance and Contracts Committee members Sunil Joti and Ravi Mahendru, were anywhere to be seen. Surprisingly, none of the 20 women councillors attended the meeting, which was rather “represented” by their husbands or fathers-in-law.

Mayor Rakesh Rathour too spent just 20 minutes claiming that there was an important meeting scheduled. With him Assistant Commissioner D.P. Bhardwaj and SE (B&R) Kulwinder Singh also preferred to leave claiming they had some important work to do.

Surinder Saini, representing an NGO, did not mince words in his address as he mentioned, “You can look at those empty chairs and realise how serious is our administration and public representatives. The MC has caused a serious dent to the city’s development by volunteering to take the Centre’s project of Domoria Overbrige and delaying it endlessly. It has lost focus on other projects as well.”

Jalandhar, July 28
From next month onwards, there will be no escape for drunken drivers and speed limit violators. As a part of the Decade of Action for Road Safety (RS 10 for short) project of the World Health Organisation, the city traffic police will soon get 22 alchometers and speed radars each.

While the traffic police already had two sets of alchometer and speed radars, these have become obsolete now and were hardly being put to use. Under the project, the traffic police personnel would also be imparted training on use of the equipment being brought from Bangkok.

ACP Traffic Diljinder Singh Dhillon said he was expecting the equipment in a month’s time. “The training is being planned for August end. We will have the equipment fitted in our vehicles and station them at strategic points to nab the culprits,” he added.

As a part of the same plan, a local NGO, Jalandhar Welfare Society, will hold seminars on road safety for school, college and university students and truck drivers as well. Surinder Saini, running the NGO, said the project was being planned for quite sometime and was near implementation now.

Outlining more details, he said, “It is being implemented in 10 countries of the world for 10 years’ time. India has been selected as one of these 10 countries. In India, two cities have been selected - Hyderabad and Jalandhar, as pilot project. The idea is to save millions of lives on road, promoting road safety norms, car free areas and encouraging the use of public transport system.”

He added that all national highway patrolling vehicles of the state would be linked with 108 ambulance call service, which would further be linked with the newly set up trauma centres in the civil hospitals. “The control room for overall monitoring would be set up in Jalandhar,” Saini further said.

Jalandhar, July 28
A school located in the periphery of the city and students studying there are paying cost of the development projects. Due to the ongoing project of laying down of the sewerage lines in such areas, the compounds and playground of school have turned into cesspools, even before the advent of heavy rainfalls.

Guru Teg Bahadur Public School is located, around 10 km from city in Hazara village, far way from the pollution rotted city environment. However, for the last over a year, the students and staff of the school are virtually breathing in the polluted air, emanating from the village sewage waste, which is being drained along the 400 meters perimeter of the school.

Worst, the sewage has begun seeping in from the boundary walls of the school into the playgrounds.

Surjit Singh, Secretray, Guru Teg Bahadur Public School, said that despite several requests made to the authorities of departments of rural development, health and education, the problem still persists. The drainage of sewage waste around school has exposed the students to several water borne diseases, he added.

Jagdish Rai, husband of Balbir Kaur, sarpanch, Hazara village, said that due laying down of sewer channels through the villages, the village sewage is currently being drained into village periphery, which subsequently pools around school. However, the problem would persist till the civil works of laying down sewer grids is accomplished, he added.

Bhagwan Singh, BDPO, Jalandhar (East) could not be contacted.

Jalandhar, July 28
While they are already peeved about the very move whereby the access road to the Jalandhar Central Jail site is being widened, looking back, the residents at the Football Chowk also feel cheated because the administration allegedly failed to keep its promises.

The residents alleged that when they were told about the road widening project, they had been promised SCOs and booths at the upcoming commercial complex at the site of the jail, but when the administration officials finally had their way, the promises were forgotten and they were told to make do only with the compensation allocated for their piece of land.

Rajiv Malhotra, a resident whose house on the chowk has been partly demolished, said, “We were promised SCOs or booths on the new commercial complex (depending upon the size of the respective lands). One of the officials, Harbir Singh, who had been regularly in touch with us before the project began, said we would be provided with the SCOs. The SCOs, along with the money, would have been adequate compensation. But once the widening project began, the MC officials backed off on the promise. We feel cheated.”

Dr Manvinder Pal Singh Bhatia, another resident affected by the drive, said, “The only mistake on our part was that we showed faith in the administration. The then PUDA Additional Chief Administrator (ACA) promised us SCOs and we believed him without a written agreement being made on the issue. We should have been adamant about the papers first. Now they are not giving us the SCOs.”

Disha Das, another resident, aired the same concern. “We believed their promise on the SCOs. The promise was so tactfully made that we never even thought of a possibility that we wouldn’t get it. Once the project started, all promises were forgotten.”

Barring the SCO issue, residents also alleged rude behaviour by the administration.

“Our telephone lines were broken, construction rubble was dumped in one of the manholes, one of our fences, which was way beyond the area marked by the administration, was broken. None of the officials is answerable for the damage. Even when we tried to talk to them, we were driven away like children,” said Disha.

Another resident Vimal Golaknath said, “We have no clue about the plan for the road or the way things would be heading. We aren’t opposed to development or the administration’s plans but if things are being built or changed right outside our house and are affecting our daily lives, we have the right to know about them.”

Harbir Singh, who was the then Additional Chief Administrator of PUDA, Jalandhar, has now been transferred to Ludhiana.

When contacted, he refused to comment on the issue, saying, “I’m not associated with the matter anymore.”

PUDA Estate Officer Ganesh Kumar Sharma said he was not aware whether any PUDA representative had made any promise of allotting SCOs and booths to residents. “Moreover, the matter is sub-judice, so I won’t comment on this,” he added.

Jalandhar, July 28
What makes an ideal ward? Perhaps, timely initiatives, development projects and a package of fine civic amenities for the residents? This does sound impossible but a visit to Ward 5 starting from Kishanpura in the old city is an exception.

A fine road network connected with cemented pavements in various localities, series of streetlights, sewerage, garbage lifting facility, timely water supply and a cleanliness drive, this ward has everything to offer to its residents.

Starting from Vij Nagar, Laxmipura, New Laxmipura, Tanda Road, New Santokhpura, Vikaspuri almost all the localities give a tidy look and speak volumes about the development of the ward. At present work on relaying of cemented pavement is going on at laxmipura locality of this ward. “It has been over a month since the work in our locality started. The construction of the new pavement would equip us with a better infrastructure,” said a resident.

Content with the development of the ward scores of shopkeepers on the Tanda Road said earlier they faced problems pertaining to the poor road network, which led to stagnant water and loss to their work as well. “During rains water would enter our shops leaving us helpless. Previous councillors failed to address our problems. However, our long pending problem has now been solved and we have proper road here,” said Mohinder Pal a shopkeeper.

Another resident Ajit Singh from Vij Nagar at Kishanpura chowk said with a proper system in store we just try our best to maintain its upkeep. “Almost all the basic facilities are available in our ward all thanks to our councillor who is readily available to help us. The ward reflects the status of works done,” he quipped.

Councillor of the ward, Sunil Jyoti, said during the past four and a half years, he had spent around Rs 4 crore on various development works. “There was a shortage of drinking water facility in some of the localities. To address this problem I got three tubewells installed at New Santokhpura, Mini Abadi Santokhpura and New Laxmipura. I also got constructed a public park on approximately 7-kanal land belonging to the Central Government in Vikaspuri locality. The land was handed over to us and we preferred to make a park.”

He said another amount to the tune of Rs 1 crore would be spent soon on some other development works. He also highlighted an eco-drive launched by him along with the residents of the ward some months back. “We motivated the residents and collected money to start a plantation drive which was later followed by a ban on polythene bags as well. We are about to restart this eco-drive again in the coming days,” he added.

Jalandhar, July 28
Anurag Verma, a senior IAS officer of 1993 batch, took over the charge as a Divisional Commissioner, Jalandhar, here today.

Prior to this, Verma had been Commissioner of Patiala Division and was also holding the charge of the Secretary, Revenue Department. He had worked on various important posts with the Punjab Government and served as the Deputy Commissioner at Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Bathinda.

Soon after taking over his new assignment, Verma claimed that solving public grievances would be his main priority. He said various development projects, under progress in the division, would be completed soon.

He assured that the problems of NRIs would be taken care of in a special mode.

The computerisation of land records in the state is a brainchild of Anurag Verma, who introduced the system to facilitate the farmers to access the record of their lands and also to get “fards of their lands to utilise them accordingly.

Chandigarh, July 28
Swimming coach Sushil Kohli has been shortlisted by the Union Sports Ministry for the prestigious Dhayan Chand Award. Sushil, who has been appointed as the swimming coach in Sports College, Jalandhar, will get the coveted award on August 29 in New Delhi.

Sushil was a part of the Indian team who had won a silver medal in the Asian Swimming Championship in 1980. He also led the team to win a bronze medal after scoring an equaliser and decider goal in the water polo event of the 9th Asian Games held at New Delhi in 1982. He dedicated his award to his guru Mahender Singh Bhullar.

“It is a great honour to get this award, however, it came after a long wait. Swimming is always a passion for me and I will give my best to the sport,” said Sushil.