Jalandhar, September 10
Call it a political gimmick or official apathy, almost all civic projects initiated in the city during the tenure of Manoranjan Kalia as Local Bodies Minister have now either been shelved off or moving on at a snail’s pace.

Be it the Rs 35 crore city beautification project, Rs 3.27 crore renovation of Nehru Garden or Rs 202 crore mega project of development of Burlton Park as sports hub-cum-business centre, all these projects started with much hullabaloo by the former minister are hanging fire ever since there has been a changeover in the ministry.

The Nehru Garden has been lying dug up for the past over a year with minimal civil work done in the form of a construction of a new boundary wall and a walking path. As per the plan, the garden was to be beautifully landscaped with fountains, new lights and food joints. The contractor who had been earlier assigned the job had been blacklisted few months back and fresh tenders have not yet been floated.

The World Bank-funded Global Environment Facility (GEF) project for promoting non-motorised vehicles by creating special lanes had been rejected almost a year back. Another city beautification had been started instead in January this year which included painting of white lines on road, construction of centre verges, footpaths, signage and development of green belts in the city. This project was to be accomplished in six months’ time but the progress is rather slow.

As many as 26 roads covering a stretch of 80 km was to be covered under the scheme. Only a few roads including Mahavir Marg, Gazigulla Road, Skylark Road, Bhagwan Parshuram Marg and Mall Road have been covered as of now with the rest remaining pending. Even as the plantation season is going to be over, even the tenders for Rs 3 crore component of horticulture work have not been issued as of now.

There has been a change in certain policies as well. The first major reversal was the scrapping of the new policy with regard to properties leased out by the various local bodies. The policy, which resulted in sale of land measuring 42 kanal, 14 marla and 37 sq feet to the Apeejay Group for Rs 29.53 crore, was cancelled just as Tikshan Sood had stepped in as the Local Bodies Minister. The group, which had been paying just Re 1 a year for a 99-year lease with the Jalandhar Improvement Trust, had even made the payment at that time.

The allotment of land by MC to hand tools cluster for a 33-year lease at Gadaipur, which had been allegedly put off at the behest of Kalia and his close aide Ravi Mahendru on an earlier occasion, has also been cleared about a fortnight back. This changeover, however, has been seen as quite positively.

Kalia, when asked on the matter, said that he was still trying to give an impetus to his old projects. He refused to comment further.

Mayor Rakesh Rathour, with whom he is said to be not on good terms, was on defensive, as he said, “None of these projects have been put off. There of course has been some circumstantial delay. The commercial bid for Burlton Park is likely to come on September 21. We may even sell the shops on the backside of our administrative complex to pay up our share in the project. Nehru Garden project will again go to the House before fresh approval. There could not be a headway due to code. The cityscape project may have been slow initially but has now gained pace.”

Jalandhar, September 10
The state information commissioner has summoned the Police Commissioner for not supplying information to a city-based resident under the Right to Information Act.

Kulbir Singh, state information commissioner, Punjab, has also directed the commissioner to appear before him in person or through a duly authorised officer who should be well aware with the facts of the case.

The information commissioner has also directed the city police chief to file his reply in writing within a period of 15 days of the issuance of the notice or before the next date of the hearing of the case.

Earlier, Sandeep Sharma, a resident of Sant Nagar, had sought information regarding Upinderjit Singh, a cop deployed with a PCR vehicle, from the Police Commissioner. The cop had gone lunatic after the death of his wife and brother.

The applicant had sought information: Whether the city police had made any arrangements for Upinderjit Singh’s treatment. Because being a policeman, Upinderjit Singh is also a human being. The Commissioner of Police has violated Section 7 of the RTI Act by not providing information, he alleged. Moreover, if the city police fails to provide him medical assistance, it is violation of the Section 21 (Protection of Life and Personal Liberty) of the Indian constitution, Sharma pointed out.

Jalandhar, September 10
One person died and two other sustained serious injuries in three road accidents in the city and its vicinity during the past 24 hours.

A co-driver of a truck was crushed to death under a speeding Tata-407 in Singha village near Lambra last night.

The victim, Kuldeep Singh, a resident of Barnala, was replacing a tyre of his stationary vehicle while Tata-407 approaching from behind ran over him. Kuldeep Singh died on the spot.

Noticing the mishap, locals and passersby assembled at the site and the police was informed.

Station House Officer Piyara Singh along with his team reached the spot and the body was sent to the local Civil Hospital.

The irate public gheraoed Tata-407 and handed its driver over to the police. The truck driver has been identified as Manpreet Singh, a resident of Hargobind Nagar, Jalandhar.

The body was handed over to the family members after the postmortem examination at the Civil Hospital this evening.

A case of rash and negligent driving has been registered against him at Lambra police station. The vehicles involved in the accident have also been impounded by the police.

Meanwhile, in a hit-and-run case, an auto-rickshaw driver was injured when a truck hit his vehicle and sped away from the scene. The accident occurred near Mata Rani Chowk in Model House locality this morning.

The injured, Vidya Chand, a resident of Bhargo Camp area, who is undergoing treatment at the Civil Hospital, said he was heading towards his residence after dropping a passenger when the mishap occurred.

As the auto-rickshaw overturned after the accident and his leg got fractured. The Bhargo camp police has registered a case of rash and negligent driving against the driver of unknown vehicle.

In another accident, Sabi, a resident of Kotla Shekh near Kartarpur, sustained serious injuries on his legs when a tractor-trailer hit his motorbike from behind in Kartaprur this noon.

The injured was admitted to the civil hospital and a case was registered at the Kartarpur police station in this regard.

Jalandhar, September 10
Lakhs of devotees will pay homage at Sodal mandir as famous Baba Sodal mela would begin on Sunday.

While the fair will begin on Sunday, a large number of devotees have already started visiting the temple to pay their obeisance for a last few days.

Though the district administration and police have made elaborate arrangements for facilitating the pilgrims to pay obeisance at the temple during the fair in a peaceful manner, the Sodal Mandir Kar Sewa Committee is not satisfied with the work of Municipal Corporation Jalandhar (MCJ) which usually get all the roads leading to the temple repaired much before the fair but this time it probably forgot to do so.

Though some work had been done at the road from Sodal railway crossing to Sodal chowk and Sodal-Doaba chowk road, the corporation has left Kusht Aashram and Gujja Peer roads, which will be used by thousands of pilgrims to reach Sodal temple to pay their obeisance.

Flaying the MCJ, the committee senior vice president Vinay Jalandhari said what to talk of repairing the roads, the corporation also forgot to lift the garbage from several areas around the temple whereas it usually get all the roads around Sodal mandir repaired and get the heaps of garbage cleared well in time.

Interestingly when contacted, the Mayor said the Gujja Peer and Kusht Aashram roads could not be repaired as it would have not been better to repair them during rains.

Meanwhile, Vinay Jalandhari also criticised Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) for irregular power supply in and around Sodal temple area. “We have already faced several power cuts till Friday afternoon,” he added.

In the meantime, the police has erected several barricades in about one kilometer radius of the temple to avoid entry of vehicle of the general public keeping in view of the huge rush of the pilgrims. Meanwhile several merry-go rounds have been put up around the mela site. 

Jalandhar, September 10
The Smith Institute, a US-based non-profit foundation, which works for special children, is all set to open a special school in the city.

The school, which will be called the Smith Institute for American Special Education, will be a first-of-its-kind initiative by a US organisation in Punjab. Dr Brett Mayfield, who has been running his own holistic health care clinic in Hartford, Vermont (USA), is the director of the school.

Mayfield, who has been coming to Jalandhar for the past 16 years, first took a fancy to the city through Sanjay Gokal (of the Sanjay Karate School), his friend and business partner.

“I met Sanjay at a medical college in the US, where I was the dean. We became friends and I started visiting Jalandhar regularly. One of Sanjay’s own relatives has special needs and he was being diagnosed wrongly by doctors here. All this led to my taking interest in the needs of the special children in the city.”

“In 2010, April Smith, CEO of the Smith Institute, visited Jalandhar and we planned to start a school here. We have already started classes for the kids at the Sanjay Karate School, three days a week. Right now, there are 20 students (in batches of five) and regular classes will start from Monday in the new building,” he says.

The school will educate children with all kinds of special needs --- Down’s syndrome, autism, hyperactivity disorders and trauma disorders, among others --- through individual education plan and preferably “will make them pursue jobs like special kids do in the US.”

While it is set to start at a residential building in Urban Estate phase II, it will later move to a larger campus in Urban Estate phase I.

“The final campus would be a seven acre land selected for the purpose, on the Phagwara bypass,” Mayfield adds.

The school presently has a staff of three teachers and a vice-principal. “But interviews are on and for the final staff we would require one teacher for every two students,” he says.

Jalandhar, September 10
The Directorate of Distance Education, Punjab Technical University, today signed a MoU with the Indian Institute of Material Management (IIMM) as academic partner to run its MBA material management course.

After signing the agreement, Dr NP Singh, Dean Distance Education, PTU, said the university had outsourced the services to get the syllabus of the course work prepared, question banks made, arranging guest lectures, sending students for internships in industry and getting them placed.

Dr Singh said the Mumbai-based institute would manage these affairs through a pool of resource persons, subject matter experts and vast linkages in the industry concerned. He said the learning material in SIM format, computer-based tutorials and video lectures would be available to the students through the PTU Online Learning Management System.

The dean said the professionals in material management are in great demand because of the phenomenal growth in retail and logistic sectors. He said, “There is a need of experts for logistic management, supply chain management, retail management, material management and production.”

The opportunities available in this industry are as a purchase manager, store manager, capacity planner, supply supervisor, commodity buyer, distribution manager, import/export managers; material control manager and plant operation manager. The major industry that requires such professionals includes courier, cargo, manufacturing industry, import and export, shipping, retail, printing and publishing.”

In the first year, PTU plans to enroll 1,000 students in 10 learning centres across the country and will expand next year, the Dean added. Likewise, the university has plans to enter into similar tie-ups with firms like Tally for computerised finance-based courses, Dupoint for fire safety courses and Insurance Academy in Mumbai for insurance related courses.

Jalandhar, September 10
Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has in order to reduce the rush of consumers at its collection counters, extended the facility of paying the bills at a few local departmental stores and small grocery shops in the city. Authorities of the power corporation said about 65 such shops had been identified in the city for the purpose. The objective behind the implementation of the scheme is to reduce the workload at main centers of the power corporation and to provide such facilities nearer to consumer’s residences. Such shops-cum-centers are termed as “Suvidha Retail Centres”.

The cornerstone of the scheme is that the facility will be provided free of the cost to the consumer. The power corporation and a private firm, hired by the corporation for bill collection, will bear the entire financial burden of the scheme, said Rajat Sharma, Senior Executive Engineer, PSPCL, Jalandhar Circle.

“All 65 such centers, which have been identified for the purpose, are scattered across the city and will cater to localities located far off from the existing bill depositing centers,” he added.

Another senior official said initially four to five shopkeepers had given their consent for the scheme. “However, within a few weeks, the number of such shopkeepers rose to 65. We expect to broaden the sphere of the scheme as more shopkeepers are likely to give their consent to the scheme,” an official said.

The shopkeepers are getting commission for opting the scheme. However, consumers, having sanctioned load up to 20 kilowatts, can avail this facility, he added.