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Gastro epidemic in Guru Nanak Pura
Robbers strike at petrol station
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Abandoned spectators’ gallery cries for upkeep
47 buses challaned for using pressure horns
Madan Mohan Nite today
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Gastro epidemic in Guru Nanak Pura
Jalandhar, September 23 Rani, who had been ailing for the past two days, died at a private hospital yesterday. Her six-month-old daughter is still down with gastroenteritis at the hospital. As women from the neighbourhood visited Rani’s mother-in-law Kalpana Devi to offer condolences today at her home in Gali No 2, every single visitor complained of an ailing member in their house. Chanchal, one of the visitors at her house, said, “My grandson Raghav is also down with the same disease. There are 25 houses in our street and every one of them has at least one ailing member. There must be thousands in the entire area. The situation in the rest of the area is also the same. The water is bad and the sewerage remains blocked. The tubewell also has a garbage dump right next to it. It has been ages since they chlorinated it. We suspect groundwater is getting contaminated.” Dr Harsh Sehgal, who runs a clinic in the area, said, “I have got at least 200 to 250 patients complaining of the problem in the past few days. It is not just Guru Nank Pura (West), the eastern side and the Avtar Nagar area all the way to Chugitti have also been affected. Earlier, the area was hit by typhoid and now it is abdominal infection
and gastroenteritis. A garbage dump is located right near the tubewell of the area. The water is extremely dirty and is causing infections.” Inderjit Bedi, another doctor in the residential area, says, “There were patients earlier, but things have worsened from Wednesday. At least 120 patients have visited me in the last three days.” Surjit, a resident says, “Both my sons and my wife have been sick for the past sometime. As long as the water doesn’t get clean, there is no use of medicines.” Interestingly, the tubewell that supplies water to the area has a huge garbage dump right next to it. Residents say it is an old dump and chances of its role in the contamination of groundwater cannot be ruled out. They said for the first time in ages, they saw an MC team visit the place for the chlorination of the water there.
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Robbers strike at petrol station
Jalandhar, September 23 Besides the cash, the robbers also took away a computer, DVD player and boxes of lubricants and grease from the filling station. The robbers also pulled apart the cables of the CCTV cameras and ransacked the entire office before fleeing. The victim, Praveen Kumar, said the four armed robbers came at the petrol station at about 12.30 am and told him to fill the fuel tank of their car. As he asked them for money, one of the car occupants came out of the vehicle, put a revolver at his temple and snatched the bag containing the sale money. Praveen Kumar said following this the two other robbers barged into the office and took away the sale money. They also gathered other items, including computer, DVD player, boxes of lubricants and grease, and put them into their car and before fleeing they also pulled out the CCTV wiring. He added that the robbers seemed to be from well-to-do families as they were using English language and were well dressed. After the robbers sped away in the car, he informed his employeer Sanjiv Kumar and subsequently the police was informed. A team of police personnel from the Maqsudan police station reached the scene of crime. The police also pressed a team of forensic experts at the crime scene. The investigating officer, ASI Mandeep Singh, however, revealed that the CCTV cameras had captured pictures of the robbers. The police had registered a case of robbery at the Maqsudan police station, he added. |
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Abandoned spectators’ gallery cries for upkeep
Jalandhar, September 23 And in this mess, the spectators gallery, which would have otherwise been used by the spectators to witness basketball matches was left and wild grass was allowed to grow on it. “As the stairs were not properly constructed and maintained, wild grass kept on growing on it. This gives a poor view of the court”, said a sports official. Sources in the Sports Department said that the construction was done in an emergency and was later left to ruin. The employees at the District Sports Office also maintained that they had been regularly cutting the grass for the upkeep of the basketball court but then it was out of question for them to keep working on it. “It is rainy season and grass keeps on growing on the stairs after every fortnight. What can we do?” asked another official, requesting anonymity. To a query as to how much amount was spent on the construction, promptly came the reply, “There is no official record to ascertain this. All we know is that they were constructed at the directions of some senior officials for a tournament”, said an official. The District Sports Officer, Rakesh Kaushal, said that this matter has been taken up with Director Sports, Pargat Singh and even they wanted to find a solution for it. “There has been talk to demolish it but nothing can be done until we get official direction to do so. Till then, this gallery will remain like this. However we ensure that the grass is cut on time”, he added.
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47 buses challaned for using pressure horns
Jalandhar, September 24 Two buses were also impounded for plying without documents and using pressure horns. The Additional Commissioner of Police (traffic), revealed that a special operation was launched against the use of pressure horns by private transporters and government-run buses. The police has laid nakas at the BSF Chowk, Milk Bar Chowk and Kapurthala Chowk early this morning. The buses that were challaned for using pressure horns include Punjab Roadways, PRTC and private operators for violating the traffic guidelines. The police also removed pressure horn instruments from these buses, the ACP added.
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Maternity ward sans hygiene
Jalandhar, September 23 Thanks to the hospital administration’s apathy, the patients and their visitors at the ward have been going through horrible times. The toilets for women at the very entrance are worse than the dirty public toilets one ever saw. The outside walls are full of dried red stains. The pots inside are very dirty and most of them are broken. Water overflows in the bathrooms, creating inconvenience, especially to the patients, because these are the only toilets available both for female patients and their visitors in the ward. The wall outside the toilets gives electric shocks because of some earthing problem and several visitors as well as children have complained about it to the hospital staff, but to no avail. Interestingly, there are no toilets for gents, so male visitors have to hunt for other toilets on the hospital premises. The bedside stools or cabinets are smeared with dirt, but left without a choice, people place their belongings on them. The ward teems with rats so much so that even a patient complained of one walking over her one night. Following that, her family members blocked a hole in the wall with a bottle. Right outside the ward premises is a stinking garbage dump. Patients also complain that the dump site is also used by people as an open urinal creating unhygienic conditions. Passing days on cots in a hall outside the ward (since there is no waiting room either) Lata, one of the visitors, says, “The toilets have made our life difficult. Overflowing water makes us live in constant fear that some patient might get hurt. My nephew also got a shock from the wall yesterday.” Balbir Kumar says, “We have no idea why they call this a ward. No hygiene standards meant for maternity patients are being followed here. Last night a rat walked over my wife’s bed. We complained to the doctors, but they are not bothered.” “Besides, there are no bathrooms for men. While in the day we figure out a way, in the evening the mens’ bathrooms on the premises remain locked up and we have no where to go,” he added. The visitors also allege that there is only one sweeper for the entire ward and two to three attendants for as many as 53 patients admitted in the ward. Talking to The Tribune, staff of the Civil Hospital said, “We are also unhappy with the dirt in the ward. We could need more sweepers and staff, but that is up to the authorities.”
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Roadways staff hold protest
Jalandhar, September 23 The dharna was held under the patronage of the All-India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) in which Punjab Roadways and PUNBUS employees working on contract basis raised anti-government slogans. Union members from 18 depots of the roadways from across the state namely Moga, Muktsar, Ludhiana, Jagroan, Chandigarh, Nangal, Ropar, Hoshiarpur, Nawashahr, Jalandhar-I and II, Pathankot, Batala, Amritsar-I and II, Patti, Tarn Taran and Ferozepur took part in it. The union members said the CM had assured them of abolishing the contract system, but two years had passed and instead of fulfilling his promise, he had been keeping mum. “We are forced to adopt the path of protests once again. Earlier, too, the CM had agreed to fulfil our demands after we held massive protests in the state,” the union members added. Vice-president of the union Darshan Singh said, “On November 29, 2009, the CM had done a written agreement with the Joint Action Committee of the transport unions for abolishing the contractual system in the roadways. However, two years have passed and we are still waiting for the final action.” He added that the CM had agreed to opt for the Haryana Roadways pattern under which the outsourcing of roadways employees was to be abolished. “We want that the Transport Minister should intervene in this matter and resolve the issue in the larger interest of the employees,” he maintained. Further talking about other pending demands they said that the contractual employees were being exploited as they worked for 12 hours a day and were getting less wages. “The vacant posts of traffic manager and workshop manager should be filled at the earliest, else we will gherao the house of Transport Minister Surjeet Jyani next month,” they added.
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Madan Mohan Nite today
Jalandhar, September 23 Set up 16 years ago by like-minded men, all of whom share a strong interest in ghazals and respect for the legendary music director Madan Mohan, the sabha has so far produced many talented singers who have been applauded for their singing prowess not only in the city but on various reality shows and channels across the nation. The most popular among them are Naresh Dhiman (Zee TV, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa), Lata (Bharat Ki Shaan), Arshpreet, Arvind and Vipul (Star TV - Voice of India), Bhanu (Star TV - Chote Ustad), Arshpreet and Renu (MH1 - Awaz Punjab Di), Rupali (PTC), Iftikhar (winner of Mohd. Raf Award), Dipanshu Pandit (AIR). Talking to the media, chairman S.S. Ajimal said, “All the participants will perform after rehearsals and will enthral the people of this city like always. He said the sabha also plans to groom five to six participants to expose them to better opportunities.” As many as 15 participants are expected to perform this year and president Arun Kapoor announced that this year the sabha will also make a new beginning by holding choreography performances for interested participants on the occasion.
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The death of a migrant woman, Rupa Rani, due to gastroenteritis triggered hectic activity of health officials in the Guru Nanak Pura (West) area today, but it seems that Rani’s death is just the tip of the iceberg.
Jalandhar, September 23
Build in haste and repent at leisure seems to sum up the story of the abandoned spectators’ gallery on the premises of the local Raizada Hansraj Stadium. The latter also houses the District Sports Office in the city. Officials still recall that the stands were built in a record 48 hours for a national-level basketball tournament some eight years ago. Surprisingly, no one knows who footed the bill and who ordered its construction.
