Ludhiana, August 30
Goods worth several lakhs of rupees were gutted in a fire that broke out at a hosiery unit on the Noorwala road here last night.

Two firemen and a factory worker were badly injured while trying to extinguish the fire. It took the firemen at least five hours to control the situation. Fire department officials said a short-circuit was the cause of the fire.

Firemen Pawan Kumar and Rajesh Kumar received serious burn injuries. They were admitted to the Civil Hospital late in the night. In the morning, the injured firemen were shifted to the Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMCH).

The first floor of the hosiery unit caught fire at around 10.30 pm last night. Workers, owners of the factory and nearby residents panicked and called the fire department. By the time the firemen reached the spot, the flames had engulfed the third floor. Machinery and hosiery stock were destroyed in the fire.

Five fire engines and 15-20 firemen and workers were sent to the spot to douse the fire and after struggling for more than five hours, the fire could be controlled. 

I want to get the “Record Not Found” certificate. I applied for it a few days ago but today again I have been told to come next week. I am oblivious to the Right to service Act. I think it has something to do with Anna Hazare — Harvinder Singh, resident of Sahauli, in Mohali

I had applied for the birth certificate of my grand daughter on June 8. I have not received the certificate till date. Today I came to collect the same but I was told to come on Friday as both tomorrow and the day after tomorrow are holidays.

— Ujagar Singh, resident of Siyar village

Ludhiana, August 30
Having put Rs 38.84 crore in its kitty from six auctions of its residential plots and commercial properties from November 2010 onwards when the incumbent chairman Madan Mohan Vyas assumed office, the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) has chalked out ambitious plans to speed up the development works in its existing and proposed colonies involving an overall expenditure of Rs 32.69 core till the end of this financial year.

Unfolding the road map for the development activities for the year, Vyas told soon after taking over, he had planned the auction of trust properties, which had taken place after a long gap of more than five years. “We raised a little more than Rs 9.80 crore from the sale of four residential plots and 13 commercial sites from the first auction in November last year and never looked back.”

In the six auctions conducted during last 10 months, the LIT had sold a total of 20 residential plots and as many as 62 commercial sites/built-up properties, which yielded Rs 38,64,58,000. “The financial position of the trust being quite comfortable, we were able to focus on the development projects and infrastructure development in our existing colonies as well as a few new projects,” he stated.

According to Vyas, the development works in several colonies worth Rs 6.02 crore were already executed.

Further, the LIT office had been given a facelift, public dealing had been streamlined, work for putting sale files of the LIT properties online was being carried out and a single-window system had been introduced.

Claiming that the disposal of pending work had also been expedited, the LIT chairman informed that he had cleared 1,417 pending files till the end of July 2011. These include 120 cases of transfer of ownership, 94 sale agreements and 185 of execution of sale deeds.

Ludhiana, August 30
A person had a miraculous escape when lightning fell on a tree inside the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) campus this morning. The employee, whose identity could not be established, was going somewhere on a motorcycle when the incident took place. As lightning fell on the tree, there was a big bang, which was heard at a long distance and the tree got badly damaged.

It was around 11.30 am when the big bang was heard and persons standing near the tree saw a big flash of light touching it.

“We all knew that lightning had fell on the tree, but never imagined that the tree would get badly damaged. All this happened within seconds and a large portion of the tree fell on the road. We also saw a motorcyclist passing from near the tree when the lightning struck the tree, but thankfully he had a miraculous escape, as only a few branches of the tree fell on him,” said a student, who was sipping tea at the Students Home at the time of the incident.

Dr Ramandeep Singh Jassal, a faculty member, who was in a nearby building at the time of incident said on hearing the bang, he rushed towards the spot. “We wanted to make sure that no one is hurt. People had also gathered at the spot and I warned them not to stay there as sometimes lightning strikes back,” he said.

Dr KK Gill, agrometeorologist at PAU, said she was sitting in her office when she heard the bang. “I visited the spot later and found that it was a high intensity strike because the tree was badly damaged. Thankfully, it was a tree, which was struck with lightning because had it struck a building, the extent of the damage could have been much more,” she said.

Jagraon, August 30
An inter-house singing competition was held at Saint Mahapragya Public School, Raikot Road, Jagraon, yesterday. Students from classes III to X took part in the competition.

More than 200 students participated in the competition with great enthusiasm and zeal. The Parrot House was declared the overall winner in the group song category. Ravleen Kaur of the Parrot House stood first in the solo singing category, followed by Gurparas of Finches House and Harman of Dore’s House securing the second and third positions, respectively.

In the English solo song category, Chetna of Dore’s House won the first position. Arpan and Gurnoor bagged the second and third positions, respectively. The prizes were distributed among winners by school principal Reema Grover. School director Vishal Jain said such competitions helped in bringing out the hidden talent of the students and should be organised on regular basis.

Jagraon, August 30
With a series of akhand paths, the 68th death anniversary of Baba Nand Singh Ji, founder of Nanaksar sect, came to an end at the Gurdwara Nanaksar Sahib, some five kilometers from Jagraon, yesterday.

The programme was held under the patronage of Baba Ghala Singh, Baba Lakha Singh, Baba Zora Singh and Baba Harbhajan Singh of Nanaksar sect.

A sea of devotees from across the globe took part in the five-daylong function and paid rich tributes to Baba Nand Singh Ji.

Apart from others, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, accompanied by former minister Tota Singh and senior party leader Maheshinder Singh Grewal also paid rich tributes to Baba Nand Singh Ji during his visit on the fourth day of the programme.

The devotees were served eatables, tea, cold water, fruits, etc, in langar (community kitchen) organised by various sports, cultural and religious clubs of the area.

The local police had made elaborated security arrangements during the function. More than 1,000 police personnel were deployed for smooth functioning of the event.

A number of renowned kirtan jathas recited kirtan during the programme.

Death, not birth anniversary

In the news item “Tributes paid to Baba Nand Singh”, carried on August 30 in Ludhiana Tribune, the death anniversary of Baba Nand Singh was inadvertently mentioned as birth anniversary. 

Ludhiana, August 30
The fire department, which should be the most advanced and up-to-date department of the city, is sadly one of the neglected departments of the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation (MC). For a city having a population of 16,13,878, there are just 65 employees with the fire department, which includes drivers. Besides, the employees don’t even have masks to cover their faces, leave aside any other safety equipment.

Due to the shortage of staff, there is resentment amongst the employees, who rue that they are forced to work overtime, which is affecting their personal life. While the MC has been “preaching” for a long time that they are in a process of recruiting new employees in the department, which seems far-fetched, as no fresh appointments have been made yet.

Even the firefighting vehicles, which are about 33 in number, are very old and the civic body gets them repaired regularly to ensure that there is no shortage of vehicles. According to experts, the life of a fire engine is only 10 years and the fire department is still working with 1980 models. Only 10 new models have been inducted into the fleet since 2002. Besides shortage of drivers of fire engines, there is an acute shortage of firemen too in the department. Presently, the department is working with just three leading firemen and 42 firemen.

The firefighters rue that all of them work for 12-hours a day and that too without any holiday. “At other places, every fire fighter has to do eight hours of duty everyday. But in Ludhiana, we are working for more than 12 hours, which is affecting our personal life,” said a fire fighter.

The firefighters say, “When a building is on fire and full of smoke, we use cloth to cover our faces as there are no masks. Even in such conditions, we operate without hesitation because it is our duty and we know that we are here to save lives.” “We have been told that the firefighters are highly paid and get the best of facilities. While in Ludhiana, all we get are assurances and false promises,” a firefighter rued.

Ludhiana, August 30
The family members of two firemen, Pawan Kumar, 33, and Rajesh Kumar, 44, have held the public responsible for the severe burn injuries caused to the latter. According to them had people not created panic both men could have avoided being critically hurt.

Rajesh’s son Deepak Sharma said his father was admitted to the city’s Civil Hospital on Monday night while he was screaming in agony from the burns. "It’s unfortunate he had to suffer at the hospital throughout the night in the absence of proper medical care. We were shocked to see the pathetic conditions in the hospital where even bandages and medicines weren’t available. My father together other family members had to spend a sleepless night at the hospital. We waited for dawn to break so that he could be shifted to some well- equipped hospital", he said.

“My dad had to walk down from the hospital’s second floor to the ground floor as there was no wheelchair available for the patients. If these are the conditions prevailing at this hospital it’d be better off if it remains shut ", added Deepak.

However, the relatives of both injured firemen cited other firemen present at the scene as claiming the public created panic and impeded efforts to assist them.

When asked whether the government was bearing the entire expenses of the firemen’s treatment, Deepak said: "Up till now we’ve already spent about Rs 8,000 on medicines and bandaging for my father. He has burn injuries on the face, neck, back and shoulders and we think he’ll remain under doctors’ observation for another couple of days".

Ludhiana, August 30
In the absence of proper fire safety measures, incidents of fire continue to take place at factories and hosiery units. Barring a few big industrial houses, a majority of hosiery owners in the city have failed to install fire-fighting equipment on their premises, putting the lives of their workers at risk.

Besides, many of them bear huge losses as they even fail to get their machinery and stocks insured.

The president of the federation of the Punjab Small Industries Association, Badish Kumar Jindal, said most hosiery units, micro and small, were located in congested areas where fire-fighters could not reach in case of an emergency. “This particular industry comes under the Shop Act and not the Industry Act,” he said. “No labour laws exist in such units. Everything, including the security of workers, depends on the willingness of hosiery unit owners. There is a need to generate awareness among the manufacturers to install basic fire extinguishers so that such incidents can be checked,” he said.

Sudershan Jain of Sarjiwan Knitwears said at this time of the year, almost all hosiery manufacturers had piled up stock worth crores of rupees. The stock had to be sent to retailers within 15-20 days.

“We usually keep our fingers crossed till the stock gets cleared. Some manufacturers get their stock insured against fire, but there are several others who do not realise the gravity of the situation. Fire is a major risk factor in the industry. Before winding up everyday, we personally switch off the main power connections in each department. But labour laws should be implemented in every industry,” said Jain.

Last year, a big industrial unit at Punjab Apparel Textile Park was gutted and the owners had to suffer huge losses worth over Rs 40 crore.

Ludhiana, August 30
“There’s no doubt whatsoever we’ll continue to be vulnerable to serious injuries in incidents like the one on Monday night in which two firemen suffered critical burns, as neither the municipal corporation nor the state government is concerned about our well being. Though we venture into the jaws of death almost every day we aren’t even provided protective masks to cover our faces, leave aside other safety equipment,” said a firefighter.

Two fire department personnel sustained critical burn injuries in a fire incident that occurred on Noorwala Road late on Monday. Department officials have often complained their staff has been working without proper fire fighting equipment for the past many years. “Every time any of our colleagues gets injured civic officials come out with promises that are never fulfilled”, he remarked.

Officiating MC commissioner Malwinder Singh Jaggi called both the injured firefighters, Rajesh Kumar, 44, and Pawan Kumar, 33, “bravehearts”.

“If both Rajesh and Pawan had been wearing protective masks and carried other safety gear, the extent of their injuries would have been much less. But, sadly, we aren’t the equipment that, MC officials should understand, can save our lives. It’s shameful city mayor Hakam Singh Giaspura as well as other senior MC officials have been making tall claims of development in the city, but when it comes to safety of firefighters they trot out the same assurances that the necessary safety equipment would be purchased soon. However these are just empty promises,” said a firefighter.

“MC officials to make such claims as they don’t have to go out to fight fires. They sit in their airconditioned offices and homes and enjoy life, while we work hard to save precious lives and prevent fire disasters. And that too with whatever resources we’re provided”, he added.

Asked for his comment, Jaggi said, “It’s a sad incident. Both firefighters are undergoing treatment at the Christian Medical College & Hospital. We’ll bear all their medical expenses and, besides, give them ‘prize money’ of Rs 10,000 for their bravery”. When asked why firefighters were not provided any safety equipment, he could only lamely reply, “If there is any such issue it’ll be looked into.”

Ludhiana, August 30
The city police claims to have arrested a gang of robbers, who were planning to commit a major crime in the city. ADCP Satvir Singh Atwal said that a case under sections 399 and 402 had been registered against the accused.

Giving details, Atwal said that several iron rods and sharp-edged weapons had been recovered from the gang members. The arrested members include Manveer Singh, Jammu Colony, Gurmeet Singh, Preet Nagar, Gaurav Sharma, Haibowal, Karan Rai and Manish Rai both from Jammu Colony and Tirath Singh from Barewal. "The case has been registered with the Model Town police station", said Atwal. — TNS

Ludhiana, August 30
Prabhjot Singh, who runs a confectionary shop at Gurdev Nagar, has been making rounds of the Police Division Number 5, here to get a complaint lodged in a chain snatching incident but the police so far has not taken any action.

Talking to Ludhiana Tribune, Prabhjot Singh said that he owned a house in Gurdev Nagar from where he was running a confectionary shop. On August 28, at around 4:30 pm, a youth came to the shop and asked for a battery. He was given the same.

"The youth gave me a Rs 50 note and when I was taking out the money from the cash box to give him the change back, he snatched my gold chain along with the locket. Before I could react to the situation, he fled away on his motorcycle. I came out from the shop, shouted but to no avail", said Prabhjot Singh further adding that he immediately rushed to the police station concerned to get his complaint lodged.

"They took the application from me but did not register the complaint. I approached them again but they say since the SHO concerned was not there, the FIR could not be lodged", said Prabhjot Singh.

Police Division Number 5 SHO Naveen Kumar when contacted said that the application was with them and they had begun probing. "On the basis of the probe results, the FIR will be lodged. There is no delay on our part, as we have started looking into the matter", said Naveen Kumar. 

Ludhiana, August 30
Court of Additional Sessions Judge Sunil Arora has sentenced Gurmail Singh, alias Geli, of Rajoana village to rigorous life imprisonment for murdering Sukhdev Singh.

He was directed to pay Rs 10,000 as fine.

Initially, a case under Section 304-A of the IPC was registered at the Sudhar police station on December 12, 2002, on the complaint of Sadhu Singh. The police was suspecting it to be a case of accident. But later on it was found that it was a murder case. According to prosecution, the accused and Sukhdev Singh entered into a scuffle over the payment of poppy husk and the former killed the latter.