Amritsar, March 11
A seven-month-old girl was found abandoned in a coach of Jan Nayak train at the railway station here today. The surveillance team of the Railway Protection Force found the baby before the train moved to the railway shed for washing.

The baby was later handed over to the authorities of child helpline being run by Navjeevan Society, Jalandhar. RPF authorities said while conducting a search in the coach, the RPF team heard a baby crying.

VK Meena, in-charge RPF police station, said the search party informed the police. The team could not find the parents of the abandoned baby. Later, he said, the baby was handed over to the Childline. She will be shifted to a juvenile home if her family members do not approach the authorities.

Amritsar, March 11
Charan Dass, a resident of Nawi Abadi near Balmiki Temple, was killed when a speeding garbage lifting truck hit the autorickshaw he was driving from behind last evening. Das died in a road mishap while his two sons escaped with minor injuries.

The accident occurred on the Amritsar-Jhabal road near Fatahpur area.

The truck hit the auto, being driven by from behind.

The impact of the collision was so powerful that the auto (PB-02-AX-9616) turned upside down leading to serious injuries to Charan Dass.

The victim was on his way to Bhikhiwind village along with his two sons. The victim’s sons sustained minor injuries in the accident.

The victims were rushed to the hospital where Charan Das, succumbed to his injuries.

The police has registered a case against the unidentified truck driver under Section 304 A and 279 IPC in this regard.

The police said the accused driver of the garbage lifting truck fled from the spot with the vehicle.

Amritsar, March 11
Gearing up for the coming summers, Jallianwala Bagh Memorial Civil Hospital have initiated a move to install new water cooling machines on its premises for patients as well as their attendants.

The hospital authorities have ordered for two new machines to provide cold drinking water to the visitors to the hospital.

At present the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial Civil Hospital has two such machines installed on the ground floor.

Hospital Senior Medical Superintendent Dr Balbir Singh Dhillon said, “We are going to install water cooling machines in the patients’ wards. The patients and their attendants will not have to come down to the ground floor for cold water, Dhillon said. The hospital is visited by a thousand patients and their attendants everyday, he added. Providing cold water to every visitor during summers is a basic necessity,” said Dhillon.

Dhillon said an order has already been placed and hopefully the machines will be installed by next week.

Dhillon said earlier patients and attendants admitted at the hospital during summers often complained about the supply of sufficient drinking water. He said the hospital may order for more such machines if the supply of water is not sufficient.

A visitor Jagat Narayan said, “It is good that the hospital management has taken the decision to provide cold drinking water facility to the general public well in time.”

Amritsar, March 11
The law and order situation in the city hit another low when several persons armed with pistols, sharp-edged and blunt weapons attacked Jasmeet Singh, a resident of Green Avenue, here late last evening.

The incident occurred when the victim allegedly tried to oppose the accused from drinking liquor and speaking loudly outside his house. The accused include Karan Chadha of Modern Colony, Lawrence Road, Jasmeet Singh Sodhi of Ranjit Avenue and Aman Khurana of Taylor Road besides four unidentified persons.

A case under Section 307, 148, 149 of the IPC and 25/ 54/ 59 of the Arms Act has been registered at the Civil Lines police station in this regard. Jasmeet, in his complaint with the police, alleged that at 2 am when he and his family were resting, the armed accused, who came in SUVs, started shouting and threatening to kill him. “On hearing their shouts, I came out of the house and tried to pacify them. Instead of cooling down, they fired at me," Jasmeet alleged. He said he narrowly escaped as the bullet hit the wall. The police have been absconding since the registration of the case.

Amritsar, March 11
The Civil Lines police has arrested Ramanjit Singh (25), alias Babbi, a resident of Gali Berian, Mohalla Kulfian, Bibeksar road on the Sultanwind road, here for allegedly possessing 200 gram of charas. He had come out of the Amritsar central jail on bail 15 days back where he was lodged in a motorcycle theft case. He was allegedly involved in a number of snatching and theft cases before his arrest. Ramanjit, according to the police, is a drug addict and started his nefarious activities again after coming out of the jail recently.

Investigating officer Gurinder Singh said he was caught from Green Avenue area at a naka. "Seeing the police party, he tried to flee. The police party got suspicious of his behaviour and caught him," he said. During search, the police seized 200 gram of charas from his pocket. He had brought the contraband from a migrant in Anngarh area which is infamous for drug peddling. Gurinder said the accused was not only hooked to drugs but was involved in drug peddling also. He used to sell charas to other addicts and youth in posh localities.

Amritsar, March 11
Once also a hub of trade and industry, the holy city has emerged as a major tourist destination on the world map over the years. But, nothing significant has been done to improve the infrastructure in this religiously important city in terms of providing the state-of-the-art health facilities, education, cleanliness, promotion of the tourism industry besides the revival of industry for economical growth.

Though a number of steps have been taken to improve the roads and revamp the old sewerage system with the laying of the sewerage system under JICA project under JNNURM, but inordinate delay is creating problems for the common man. The ambitious city bus service has not been started so far.

Completion of these pending projects besides creating new infrastructure in the above said sectors will remain a challenge for the state government. The much-hyped elevated road, being constructed on the main GT Road leading to Bhandari Bridge to ease traffic, has become a source of inconvenience for the residents as some of its ramps are still under construction. The project has failed to meet the deadline many times owing to various reasons.

Encroachments on both sides have congested the existing roads adding to traffic chaos. Improper lifting of garbage and open drains has led to creation of garbage dumps leading to unhygienic living conditions.

Slum areas located within the Municipal Corporation limits are the worst affected. These areas have been deprived of roads and sewerage system for a long time. Areas of historic importance like Sultanwind, Guru Ki Wadali, Vallah and Verka, besides Maqboolpura, Mustafabad, Karampura, Faizpura, Dhapai, Bhagtanwala, Anngarh, Mokampura, Hindustan Basti, Ghanupur, Kale, Islamabad, Putlighar, Chheharta, Rasulpur Kaler etc. are a few.

In the absence of improper lifting, piles of garbage can be seen in various parts of the city especially inside the walled city. The ambitious solid waste management plants to get rid of garbage on the city roads and generating electricity from solid waste ran into rough weather. It could not take off even after six years.

On the health front, the government had brought a number of projects funded by the central government, but the absence of proper staff has hit health services in these hospitals. Many doctors with spcialisations have retired, but their posts have not been filled so far.

Due to this, a number of departments are on the verge of closure. The superspeciality ward and trauma centres were opened at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital and local Civil Hospital, respectively, but they could not give the desired results owing to shortage of the staff and failure of the 
government in recruiting new staff.

“Though the government has recently filled several vacant posts, but no attention is being given to the departments which have already been closed or are facing closure,” said a senior doctor of Government Medical College.

Besides, a shortage of funds has also marred their functioning. The Civil Hospital, having a trauma centre, has also been working without the sanctioned staff strength while the sanctioned posts of pharmacists, staff nurses and Class IV employees are also lying vacant.

Education is another sector which has been ignored with a majority of educational institutes at the primary and secondary levels in the border district facing staff crunch, lack of infrastructure and obsolete teaching material. A large number of schools are being run from rented accommodations or in dilapidated buildings.

The tourism industry, which can provide the right impetus for the growth of city’s economy, is not a priority of the government. Many places of historic and heritage value could not be developed.

Tourists do not stay in Amritsar and go back after visiting Harimandir Sahib and the Attar-Wagah joint check post.

Amritsar, March 11
The Maqboolpura area, better known as the locality of widows, is no better than a slum.

The area is ailing in the presence of bumpy roads, scarce drinking water supply, outdated sewerage system, open nullah and ad hoc health arrangements.

Thousands of families, residing in 13 streets of Maqboolpura and surrounding areas, are forced to live in most unhygienic conditions. The area has worst sanitary conditions. Inhabitants often complain of outbreak of diseases.

Ganda nullah passing through the area is still uncovered at many places.

A resident, Bina Rani said each day is a nightmare here. "Leaders come and make tall promises. The residents just live on a hope that the situation will improve one day," she said.

A grocery shop owner, Om Prakash said open drainage and decrepit sewerage system were bane. He said pitiable sanitary condition prevailing in the area suggests apathy of the Amritsar Municipal Corporation.

They said the MC has employed a private company to collect garbage in posh localities, but the Maqboolpura area has been neglected despite it being prone to serious diseases due to poor sanitary conditions.

He urged the government to clear the garbage dumps and cleans the streets so that the people can live a clean life.

Another resident Bhajan Singh said roads are bumpy and broken and many of them have not been repaired for a long time. He said majority of residents of the locality work as domestic helps and skilled workforce in factories.

The only primary health centre in area has been lying closed for the past many years. People have nowhere to go except private clinics, which are mushrooming in the absence of government apathy.

Majority of the residents being economically weak cannot afford expensive health treatment. In the absence of primary or secondary health centre in the area, these residents have to approach private hospitals for treatment or travel over five kms to seek treatment at the Civil Hospital.

A medical store owner in the area, Rajesh Kumar said most of the people come to take medicines for diaorrhea. The disease is very much common here. I think there is some problem with the drinking water here. There is a need to supply good quality water to the residents. People are poor and they cannot even afford costly treatment.

A social worker and a resident of the locality, Master Ajit Singh said many families have to take loan to get medical care. He also said many residents of the locality suffer from diaorrhea often.

He said it was because of mixing of potable water with sewage.

Amritsar, March 11
Indian Idol, a popular singing reality show received a good response from the people of Amritsar during the auditions forthe show being held in the city. As many as 800 aspirants turned up on the Khalsa College premises since wee hours today.

The groundwork of the auditions and identifying talent from across the country kicked off with a branded Indian Idol van that gave people a chance to sing and upload their videos straight on the Indian Idol website and to get a chance to go for the auditions directly. The last season’s finalists and judges Bhumi Trivedi and Rakesh Maini said the auditions will be held till 10 pm.

“It was excited to see the aspiring singers who gathered for the auditions, which stands for the growing populaity of the show,” said Rakesh Maini.

Amritsar, March 11
The team from Patiala won Mai Bagho Gatka Trophy by winning 14 gold medals at the state-level women Gatka Open Championship, which concluded at Central Khalsa Orphanage today. The team from Bathinda secured the second position by winning four gold medals. Gatka players from 13 districts, besides Chandigarh, took part in the competition. The competitions were held in the three categories of under 19 years, under 21 years and under 25-year.

The chief guest MLA Navjot Kaur Sidhu lauded the role of Punjab Gatka Association for organising the gatka competition for women. She said that she would support the cause of promoting gatka among youngsters.

SGPC Member Kiranjot Kaur said that the girls must adopt this martial art. She assured that the SGPC will provide all help to the Gatka Association so that such competitions can become a regular feature.

Others present on the occasion included, Chief Khalsa Diwan president, Charanjit Singh Chadha, All India Pingalwara Society president, Dr Inderjit Kaur, Punjab Gatka Association general secretary Harjeet Singh Grewal, and district president Sarabjeet Singh.

Amritsar, March 11
The Central Trade Union today threatened to gherao the Circuit House police chowki in protest against police inaction in an assault case. Employees of Gandhi Ashram were assaulted by several persons on December 30. The employees were protesting against the management of the ashram after it failed to fulfil their demands.

Jagtar Singh Karampura, convener of the union, said even after the registration of a criminal case against the accused, the police failed to arrest and take necessary action against them.

He informed that a CTU delegation had met the police authorities urging them to take necessary steps and to arrest the accused. However, it failed to initiate any action in the case.

Amritsar, March 10
The State Bank of India, New Amritsar branch, donated a water purifier to Government Middle School, Guru Nanak Pura, to provide clean drinking water to its students. Branch manager Kuldip Singh Arora said the step was taken under the bank’s principle of corporate social responsibility towards citizens of the country. — TNS