Ludhiana, September 13
A man with head injuries who was brought to the city’s Civil Hospital was reportedly denied a bed and told to wait “anywhere he felt like.”

Harpreet Singh, press secretary of the Berozgar Lineman Union (Punjab), claimed: “On Monday a member of our union, Kulbeer Kumar, was severely injured on the head during the cane charge at the ‘Chhapar Mela’. We took him to the community health centre in Pakhowal from where he was referred to the Civil Hospital, Ludhiana. However, we were told at the reception there was no vacant bed at the hospital so the patient could stay anywhere he felt like”.

Jaswinder Singh, another union member, said: "Throughout the night we stayed with him under open sky in hot and humid weather but Kulbeer was not provided a bed. It is very inhumane of the concerned staff who even said that the patient can go anywhere on the roads. Today we met civil surgeon Dr Daleep Kumar and brought the matter to his notice. After his intervention we succeeded in getting a hospital bed for Kulbeer”.

Showing the patient’s blood stained clothes, Gurpreet Singh, a union member, said: "Look at his head injuries and his clothes, but the hospital staff wasn’t bothered at all. Although we managed to get a bed for Kulbeer at around noon doctors didn’t begin treatment till late in the afternoon”.

When contacted Dr Karamvir Goel, officiating senior medical officer, Ludhiana, stated: "It was around 6 pm when I got to know from the staff concerned that the patient was admitted to the Civil Hospital in ward number 7 and was allotted bed number 22. He later left the ward on his own but was however provided with the bed at night”.

Ludhiana, September 13
Though patients with burn injuries are highly susceptible to infection, a visit to the city’s Civil Hospital gives an impression the staff is least bothered about taking the necessary precautions. A recent case in point is that of a five-year girl, Sanya, who had suffered burns, lying on the floor covered in bandages near the same hospital ward where the body of another burns patient still lay.

Her father, Nizaam, told The Tribune: "My daughter got burnt about 18 days ago after she fell into a large container filled with hot oil at home, and since then we’ve been here at the hospital. She was allotted a bed in the burns ward but today we were told to lay her down on the floor of the waiting hall as another female patient had succumbed to her burn injuries about half an hour ago. The staff asked us to shift her from the ward after saying she might feel terrified at seeing a corpse. She is now showing signs of recovery”.

Utter confusion prevailed at the burns ward with staff nurses on duty arguing themselves about which doctor had to be informed about the dead patient.
”Look dead body has been lying for the last 20 minutes and we have no Class IV employee with us to inform the concerned doctor. The body can be sent to mortuary only after the permission of doctor”, said a hospital employee.

When asked what was being done to address the manpower crunch at the hospital, Dr Karamvir Goel, officiating senior medical officer, Ludhiana, stated: "We’ve sent a request for providing more staff to the authorities concerned”.

Ludhiana, September 13
A bridge, which is otherwise used as a mode to join two areas, seems to have lost its meaning when it comes to New Chander Nagar near Haibowal. Here, a bridge on Budda Nullah, which is under construction in the area for the past 10 months, remains incomplete for reasons best known to the Municipal Corporation (MC), which boasts of being the richest in the state.

Due to this, area residents are forced to use another "temporary" wooden bridge, which is in a poor condition, and can collapse anytime.

Every time someone crosses this bridge, he puts his life in danger, which is dependent on a few wooden logs.

Pedestrians have to pass the dilapidated bridge to approach DMC Hospital Chowk. The foundation stone for constructing a new bridge was laid by Mayor Hakam Singh Giaspura, former Chief Parliamentary Secretary Harish Rai Dhanda, and Councillor Roopamdeep Kaur Malhi on October 24 last year. Even the foundation stone fell into the nullah while the construction of the new bridge was going on.

Now that only four months are left for the deadline of the completion of a new bridge, the construction activity has stopped, which could be known from the fact that only one pillar has been constructed on one side of the nullah.

The construction of the new bridge started after the removal of dilapidated wooden bridge nine months back. The dilapidated bridge on the nullah was placed by Municipal Corporation near the construction site. Residents of New Chander Nagar used the bridge to take auto rickshaws from DMC Hospital Chowk. Now pedestrians have started using unfixed dilapidated bridge again, which may cause an accident any time.

Santosh Jaiswal, a resident of New Chander Nagar, rued, " The construction work has been stopped for the past two months. People are using this bridge continuously. Some minor incidents took place, but the corporation is waiting for a major accident before taking any action."

"It turns more dangerous at night due to non-functional streetlights. The MC should start the construction work of bridge for the convenience of people at the earliest", said Sumit, resident of New Chander Nagar 

Ludhiana, September 13
About 45 closed circuit television cameras installed inside the AC Market at Calibre Plaza for surveillance have been discarded and are gathering dust inside a store after shopkeepers did not make any move to reclaim the cameras from the municipal corporation. On the other hand, civic officials have maintained the cameras were stored away since no applications for claiming them were filed.

The CCTV cameras were put up for tightening security inside the market, one of the city’s most crowded, in association with the local police, which too had access to them. The cameras were installed on every floor of the building besides the entrance and exit points to monitor all activities from the control room set up on the top floor.

Jagraon, September 13
There has been a considerable rise in the cases of dengue and malaria in Jagraon and surrounding areas for the last one month. A large number of patients with symptoms of malaria and dengue are visiting the Civil Hospital, private hospitals and clinics for treatment.

One of the main reasons behind the rise in cases of malaria is the lack of cleanliness in the town. Huge heaps of garbage and accumulated rainwater are acting as breeding ground for mosquitoes.

In spite of this, the local administration seems to be apathetic towards the problem and is doing nothing to solving the situation. Residents alleged that the administration, including Municipal Council and health department officials, have done nothing to prevent the spread of such diseases. This is despite the fact that more than five persons in the town lost their lives to malaria and dengue last year.

During a visit to various hospitals of the town, it was found that five to 10 patients suffering from malaria were undergoing treatment in these hospitals. Besides, a large number of people were suffering from high fever and they were yet to get the tests done.

According to the residents, the MC has done no fogging due to which mosquitoes are increasing. People fear that if the attitude of the administration remains the same, the situation can turn more dangerous.

“I fail to understand why the MC and health department officials do not pay heed towards such a serious problem,” said Hari Om Singla, a senior citizen.

When contacted, senior medical officer (SMO), Civil Hospital, Jagraon, Dr Rupinder Kaur Kakkar, said, “There is no doubt that there is an increase in the cases of malaria and dengue in the last few days. The health department officials have already visited different areas and distributed literature among residents to create awareness about how to prevent the spread of such diseases. Besides, we have got fogging done in the town and nearby areas to ensure that the disease do not spread further.”

Ludhiana, September 13
An RTI activist has charged an Assistant Town Planner (ATP) with providing him incomplete information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

The information was related to pending challans of the building branch of Zone C area of the city.

Rohit Sabharwal, president of the Council of RTI Activists, alleged that he had sought information related to pending challans in Zone C. “ATP Nirmal Preet Singh did not provide me the correct information. There are several discrepancies in the list provided to me and after I brought the details of some left out buildings to the notice of Nirmal Preet Singh, he admitted over the phone that some buildings have been left out,” alleged Sabharwal.

He said there was a building opposite the ITI on Gill Road, which was sealed and challaned, “But the name of this building is missing from the list provided to me by the ATP of Zone C. Now, I will ask for inspection of record of Zone C under Section 2 (J) of RTI Act because I feel that there could be other discrepancies in the list as well,” claimed Sabharwal.

ATP Nirmal Preet Singh, however, said that after Sabharwal brought the issue to his notice, he had asked the building inspectors of his zone to verify the facts and make sure that an authentic list was provided to him.

“We have not left out any building intentionally. We are rechecking our record and would provide a fresh list to Sabharwal. The updated list could not be handed over to Sabharwal as there was some problem with our printer,” the ATP claimed.

Ludhiana, September 13
The tehbazaari wing of the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation confiscated vehicles and rehris from the Bhadaur House area this afternoon.

The wrongly parked vehicles lead to snarl-ups on the road passing under the incomplete Lakkar Bridge flyover. A total of five bikes and three rehris were seized during the drive.

Accompanied by police and MC officials, a team led by Zone A tehbazaari superintendent Ranjeev Kumar removed bikes, rehris, tables, chairs and other such material, which was lying on the road and was blocking easy flow of traffic.

Ranjeev Kumar said owners of the bikes were fined Rs 500 each, while one bike was still with the MC. “Even the rehris, tables and chairs are still in our possession as no person came to claim them,” said Ranjeev Kumar.

NS Nanda, president of the Bhadaur House Market Association, has welcomed the MC drive. “The area is already facing traffic congestion and MC should keep a tab on this menace,” said Nanda.

MC officiating commissioner Malwinder Singh Jaggi said that no person would be allowed to park their vehicles or keep their material on the road.

“In areas such as Bhadaur House, Calibre Plaza, Feroze Gandhi Market and others, there already is provision of parking and if people still park their vehicles in area other than parking, we would confiscate the vehicles and fine the owners. This drive would continue in other parts of the city as well and if any person is having any such complaint, they can come and inform me about this menace,” claimed Jaggi.

On September 8, The Tribune had reported that the city’s Bhadaur House area was encroached upon by rehris and haphazardly parked vehicles. People park their vehicles along the road, despite the fact that MC multi-level parking and another parking of Calibre Plaza is situated nearby.

If this was not enough, some people are also using the incomplete Lakkar Bridge for parking their vehicles, including trucks, which sometimes makes it difficult for the vehicles of the project contractor to move on the bridge. 

Mandi Ahmedgarh, September 13
Taking cognisance of a report published in these columns on preparing and serving eatables in unhygienic conditions at Mela Chhappar, the administration has initiated steps to ensure that only germ-free food items were sold during the fair.

Besides directing vendors to adopt measures to save eatables from dust and flies, officials banned the use of certain pigments and flavours, which are harmful for life.

A team of officials led by district food safety officer Harpreet Kaur undertook a surprise inspection of vends and stalls preparing and selling eatables, including sweets, snacks, juice and tea.

While a majority of the vendors were found ignoring directions of the department regarding maintenance of cleanliness and hygienic condition in their kitchens and temporary restaurants, others were found consuming non-permissible colours and flavours in preparation of eatables including pakoras, jalebi and juices.

As a majority of the vendors are ‘nomadic’ the department preferred not to initiate legal action against them. However, they were made to throw away stale and unhygienic eatables.

Acknowledging the negligence on part of vendors at the mela, Harpreet Kaur said a team of officials had already been deputed to check sale of unhygienic food at the mela.

Ludhiana, September 13
Even after mishaps at regular intervals and unsuspecting persons falling victims to the virtual death traps on the busy road in Bhai Himmat Singh Nagar in Dugri here, the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has not come out of its deep slumber to mend the loose hanging high-tension (HT) lines in the middle of the road for past over six years.

The danger that the 66 KV HT tower lines pose to trucks, pick-up vans and other goods carriers, especially those carrying containers, which are at times as high as 12 to 15 feet and pass at a sniffing distance from the live power cables, came to fore on Monday when a driver, Rahat Ali, received an electric shock while loading goods and was admitted to CMC Hospital in a serious condition.

Charging the power corporation, the industries department and the municipal corporation with apathy and indifference, the Knitwear Club today said the departments concerned were passing the buck for the past more than five years without anybody showing even a scant concern to public safety.

Addressing a news conference here today, Knitwear Club president Vinod Thapar said an export-oriented hosiery unit - Jawandsons - was located in this area and trucks carrying finished goods or raw material in huge containers passed through the road frequently. With the HT lines hanging loosely at a height of just about 14 feet from the road, the persons on board goods carriers and other vehicles were exposed to grave threat of electrocution.

He said the issue of low hanging HT lines had persistently been taken up with the authorities at the level of the then chairman of PSEB, YS Ratra, the Principal Secretary to the Punjab Government, Department of Industries, the district administration, the then Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Surinder Dawar, and Punjab Minister for Jails, Tourism and Cultural Affairs Hira Singh Gabria without any positive response till now.

“That the power corporation had failed to take any action even after three successive Deputy Commissioners - Ashok Gupta, Vikas Garg and Rahul Tiwari - had written demi-official letters for elevating the HT lines by erection of another tower to reduce the distance between the spans and increase ground clearance level, shows the scant concern of the department for city residents," Thapar said.

In an ultimatum of sorts, the Knitwear Club called for immediate remedial steps to raise the level of HT lines so as to ensure safety of road users and area residents failing which it would resort to agitation and might seek legal recourse.

Ludhiana, September 13
The pen-down strike by the Medical Laboratory Technicians’ Association today entered the second day and none worked in the laboratories and blood banks of government hospitals and dispensaries.

Laboratory technicians also held a protest dharna outside the Civil Surgeon office. Jagdish Lal, one of the office-bearers of the association, said, “The state health department has not been fulfilling long-pending demands, so we have decided to go on the pen-down strike.”

Meanwhile, employees working on contract in the tuberculosis department also remained on the pen-down strike today. Gurjeet Singh, state president of RNTCP and NLEP Union, said, “We will hold the state-level dharna at Chandigarh.” 

Ludhiana, September 13
Gurmit Singh Kular of Kular International has been unanimously elected as the president of the United Cycle and Parts Manufacturers' Association (UCPMA) here today.

Other two contestants in fray, Charanjit Vishwakarma and Roopak Sood, withdrew their names in Kular’s support. The UCPMA election has been scheduled for September 15.

On the other hand, for other seven key posts in the association, the withdrawal of the names had to be done by 4 pm today and UCPMA members expected that the final list of candidates would be put up by 5 pm at the office. While sources maintain since many members were trying to reach a unanimous decision, the list of final contestants contesting election was “intentionally” not put up on the board.

“They will be having a late evening meeting in which members will be asked to withdraw their names in others’ support. Till now, the contestants from both major groups are adamant to contest the election. The outcome of the meeting will come late evening. But we are pretty sure that the decision would be unanimous, the way the events are taking place,” said an old member of UCPMA.

Members also said they were shocked to see how things were taking shape in the current UCPMA election. “Top-level politics is being going on where big corporate are using their influence. I feel that election affair should be simple and members must not indulge in petty politics,” said a member.

Ludhiana, September 13
You cannot be a super woman always. And there’s no point in trying to be one. That’s the basic premise on which city-based businesswoman Harpreet Brar works.

She runs a furniture manufacturing unit in the city, apart from ‘Fischers’ store where customized furniture is sold. She has often been told that hers is a typically male-dominated business. She does not read much into such generalizations and neither does her husband who is her ‘partner’ in the business.

"We supply to companies like Fab India. Our USP is quality coupled with excellence. We use chemically-treated seasoned wood in our solid wood furniture. At our store we also do the interiors," she says, sounding a consummate businesswoman.

The nitty-gritty of the business has to be worked out every day. Decisions have to be taken and she has to keep a close watch on the work force at her factory. "I have to maintain a tough exterior. Any sign of weakness and the workers can take you for a ride," she tells us.

She feels that she has changed as a person ever since she joined this venture that was started by her husband. "I think your profession impinges on your personal life. I have become tougher and you don’t get to see my soft side when I’m at work," she adds.

It’s only when she’s with her two daughters that her soft side comes back to her. "I do have my pangs of guilt when I cannot devote much time to my daughters. Sometimes, when they need me I’m not there. I’m gradually learning to accept this feeling of guilt," she says.

Back to her business talk, she says the city is not very industry friendly. "We hardly get any help from the government. We have to manage the things on our own," she says.

Yet, not for a moment since 2001, when she joined the business, has she regretted her decision to be what she’s today. 

Ludhiana, September 13
Judicial Magistrate Monica Sharma has convicted former SHO Gurchetan Singh of Partapura, Phillaur, and four others on the charges of trespassing into the property of a person, wrongfully confining him with common object for the purpose of inflicting injuries.

All accused have been ordered to undergo imprisonment for three years each. They have been also ordered to pay a fine of Rs 3,000 each.

Those other convicted includes Pritam Singh, wife Kashmir Kaur, sons Lal Singh and Binder Singh, all residents of Ajit Nagar, Ludhiana.

However, the court acquitted one accused, Ajit Singh of Police Lines, Ludhiana, finding no evidence against him for participating in the commission of offence.

A case under Sections 323, 342, 452, 148 and 149 of the IPC was registered against the accused following directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court at Division No. 2 police station on the complaint of Dilbagh Singh Saini on February 12, 1997.

The complainant had stated that his wife Baljit Karu and two sons owned a property at Ajit Nagar, Suffian Road, Ludhiana. The property was unfit and unsafe for human habitation. As such they had filed a case against tenant, Pritam Singh seeking injunction for making structural changes on the premises from the court.

Convinced with their submissions, the court of civil judge Neelam Salaria had granted stay order in their favour. It was alleged that the major portion of the roof had already fallen down. It was further alleged that on April 11, 1996, the tenant with the help of policemen tried to reconstruct the fallen portion. They were shown the court order but they did not stop.

When they protested, tenant along with Sub-Inspector Gurchetan Singh posted at Division No. 2 entered their house forcibly and beat him.

However, the accused pleaded innocence. But after appreciating the evidence on record, the court found them guilty and sentenced accordingly.