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Nullah water enters GMC staff quarters
Waste water surrounds ESI hospital premises
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Man shoots lover, commits suicide
Board exams: Schools fleece private candidates
Jewellers’ strike: Artisans head home
How serious is MC in filling coffers?
Confusion prevails as chemists asked to register under Food Safety Act
Health dept gears up to prevent summer diseases
Workshop on hernia surgery
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Nullah water enters GMC staff quarters
Amritsar, April 1 The residents say the water first entered the college premises two months ago when a blockade was constructed in the nullah as part of the ongoing project to cover it. Because of the blockade, water overflowed and entered into the college premises. The overflowing water has accumulated inside the Government Medical College premises and near by Medical Enclave area. Kiran Gill, who lives in the government quarters here said, “Sometimes the water enters the rooms. As a result of water standing outside the house, toilets and washrooms get choked.” She rued it has become a major threat to health. Another resident, Jagseer Singh said, “Living here has become a hell. The foul smell emitted by the stinking water is unbearable. Though we are living inside the Government Medical College, which provides medical facilities to thousands of people everyday but our life here is miserable.” He said officials should take immediate action to help residents. Earlier, the residents of Medical Enclave too had complained of the foul smell emanating form the water, which gets accumulated in the area. However, as the administration failed to take any corrective measures, the magnitude of the problem has increased now. The residents said sometimes employees of the MC come to pour lubricants and medicines into the pool of water so that it does not become a breeding ground for the mosquitoes. “But that is not sufficient. What have the Mayor and other senior officials done so far? May be they are not concerned about people like us who are not influential,” another resident said. Government Medical College principal Dr SS Shergill said the complaint has been forwarded to the Municipal Corporation. He said as the Ganda Nullah runs along the
college premises, water enters when the flow of water increases. Municipal Corporation commissioner Dharampal Gupta said steps will be taken so that the
residents’ don’t face such a problem again. He said work to cover the nullah led to the problem.
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Waste water surrounds ESI hospital premises
Amritsar, April 1 The hospital has made a makeshift kucha channel to create an outlet for wastewater generated at the hospital. However, in the absence of a permanent solution the water often overflows and enters the open spaces alongside the building. Congress grass, a common weed, is growing in the open space around the hospital. The condition around the gynaecology ward of the institution is even more serious. Wastewater stagnates in the open space adjoining the gynaecology ward. A visitor to the hospital, Sanjeev Joshi said, "The place is a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes and flies. The water stagnates here. An underground system should be put in place here." With more than 32,000 employees of various institutions as beneficiaries attached with the hospital, the visitors feel that the hospital management must take quick action to rectify the problem. “The hospitals should be clean. These should not look like junkyards. The wastewater must be disposed off properly,” said Joginder Singh, another visitor. ESI Medical Superintendent Ekalavya Gabba said, "We have rectified all the problems which were making outflow of water difficult. The Municipal
Corporation should take action now.” He said he had requested the Municipal Corporation officials to get the way cleared for the waste water to flow out. “I was given the assurance that the problem will be rectified within a month,” he said.
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Man shoots lover, commits suicide
Amritsar, April 1 Ranjodh armed with a country-made pistol entered the girl’s house at 10.30 am and shot at her. She died on the spot. Ranjodh then returned to his house located nearby and killed himself with the same pistol. It remains a mystery that what prompted the boy to take this step as family members of the victims claimed that both had “healthy relationship” and they had no objections over it. Lovepreet Singh, Sandeep’s brother, said there was no dispute of any kind. Ranjodh’s father Mukhtar Singh said he was not present at home at the time of the incident. He said he did not know about the source of the pistol. Balkar Singh, SHO, Lopoke police station, said the reason behind the incident was not known yet. “Ranjodh and Sandeep loved each other. No body knows what happened between them. The bullet pierced the chest of the girl while the boy used the same pistol to end his life,” he said, adding that the police had recovered the weapon and the bodies had been sent for postmortem.
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Board exams: Schools fleece private candidates
Students, who earlier deposited examination fee individually, are now required to choose for admission in the associated and open schools before appearing in the examination. A Class XII student said he had to take admission in an associated school in city. He said the school charged monthly tuition fee apart from the annual examination fee despite the fact that he got admitted at the fag end of the session. He said the school authorities cited their in-house system as the reason. He said his family had to shell out Rs 10,000 as annual fee alone. He said he had cleared his matriculation examination after depositing examination fee of Rs 1,000 only with the office of the Punjab School Education Board. “Certain pressing domestic situation had forced me to earn a living and appear privately in examinations,” he said. The Board introduced two more categories of schools
called associated and open schools. Government, aided and board-affiliated schools used to submit forms of their students in bulk and the names of their schools used to be printed on the certificates. On the other hand, private candidates could submit their forms individually and even if they were admitted in private academies, they had to submit the forms one by one. In return, private students were issued certificates with only the name of the district printed on them. Sources said several affiliated schools do not meet regulations to ensure quality education and have taken affiliation only up to matriculation. However, they have taken approval of Class XII under the category of associated and open schools. On the other hand, these schools do not inform of their rightful status to the public. A school has to deposit Rs 13,000 as one time fee with the Board to get the associated status up to matriculation and Rs 13,000 per education stream (commerce, science and humanities) more for get Class XII. These schools have to deposit Rs 5,000 as continuation fee each year.
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Jewellers’ strike: Artisans head home
An artisan hailing from Mahrashtra Nagesh Kumar said the production of ornaments has come to naught since the agitation began. He said since the agitation was dragging on, many artisans thought of using it as a break. He said artisans from Maharashtra are skilled in melting the yellow metal and refining it. He said it was a challenging time for the artisans as their survival depends upon their daily earning. He said artisans have come here from various cities and villages of Maharashtra. Another artisan from West Bengal said the strike has put a full stop not only on the sales but manufacturing as well. He said artisans from West Bengal were involved in preparing all kinds of designer jewellery, including diamond-studded ornaments. He said these artisans have arrived here from various parts of the state. They face an uncertain future, he
felt. He said many artisans had gone back to their native places while several others are thinking of joining their relatives and friends there. MP Navjot Singh Sidhu has also expressed solidarity with the agitating gold jewellers at traditional ornament market Guru Bazar. He said he supports the demand of the jewellers calling for a roll back of the newly introduced taxes. Punjab Swarnakar Sangh vice-president Jaspal Singh Kanda said the agitators has given an ultimatum to the UPA government at the Centre to recall all taxes till April 5 and till then their establishments will abstain from work. He said they will intensify the agitation after the expiry of the deadline.
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Faulty traffic lights signal trouble at major chowks
Amritsar, April 1 The municipal corporation authorities have so far failed to repair the snag, which often leads to traffic chaos and brawls. The police deputed here have also failed to regulate traffic properly. Traffic lights at several busy intersections such as Sant Singh Sukha Singh Chowk, Cantonment Chowk, Mahan Singh Gate Chowk and Maqboolpura Chowk have also been out of order for last couple of months. Mahan Singh Gate is one of the busiest chowks from where buses enter the bus stand. Traffic chaos is the order of the day here while the fear of road mishaps also looms large. "The area is known for frequent traffic jams while brawls among the commuters is also a common sight here. The traffic cops arrive only when they have to conduct challans but do not regulate traffic," said Sujit Kumar, a nearby resident of Putlighar Chowk. "Mahan Singh Gate Chowk is most crowded as it witnesses a huge rush of heavy vehicles, including buses and trucks. The authorities cncerned should repair the traffic lights immediately," demanded Ravinder Kumar, a shopkeeper. Traffic lights at Maqboolpura Chowk have not been repaired for last over six months while repeated requests have fallen on deaf ears. "Yes, we face a lot of problems in the absence of traffic lights. We have to manually control the traffic and as the summer season is here, it is not possible for the cops to stand at the Chowk for long hours," said a traffic cop on the condition of anonymity.
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How serious is MC in filling coffers?
Amritsar, April 1 Even though the MC has extended its deadline to recover the dues till Monday evening, barring the municipal town planning department, the other revenue-generating departments --- house tax and water supply --- are running against time to meet their targets. The non-uniformity of allocation of targets is also being cited as one of the prominent reasons for low revenue collection. The MTP department is considered to be the highest revenue-generating department, but it was a target of just Rs 15 crore. According to a rough estimate, if there are about 150 buildings coming up in a month, there would be 1,800 buildings coming up in a year. If each building is charged Rs 10,000 as tax, it would amount to Rs 18 crore. Department sources said the MTP department should have been given a target not less than Rs 50 crore. In the house tax department, the services of the superintendents were not utilised in uniform manner. Except for one, the contribution of other three was negligible in tax collection. When this point was brought to the notice of MC Commissioner Dharampal Gupta, he had assured to decentralise the tax-collecting procedure and had also said to make officials accountable in their individual capacity. But it did not happen. At one hand, Sushant Bhatia, superintendent, house tax wing, collected over Rs 1.6 crore from the big malls and factories by the evening today, on the other the MC did not keep a tax record of Celebration Mall on Batala Road; Central Mall, Alantra Mall, JK Towers and Croma Mall, all located on the Mall road. Sushant Bhatia, when questioned, said big business houses located on the Mall road don't come under his jurisdiction. "It is with another superintendent," he added. "The Alpha Mall, which had liability to pay Rs 1.63 crore, paid Rs 1.10 crore. I also realised Rs 13 lakh from Mohan International Hotel, Rs 5 lakh from Ista Hotel, Rs 5 lakh from Ritz, Rs 5 lakh from 18 liquor shops, Rs 3 lakh from 12 factories located at focal point. I would also be getting another Rs 4 lakh from two car showrooms located on the GT Road," said Bhatia. Bakshi Ram Arora, chairperson of House Tax Committee, said all the superintendents have been given targets and they are trying their best to meet the target. "Actually, I too got out of touch because of the assembly elections. But it certainly needs to be checked if some big houses were exempted. I will inquire into the matter," he said. MC sources also blamed the lack of vigil by its top brass. "Everybody knows that there will be no appreciation for those who are working to fill the MC coffer, nor there any penalty for those who don't perform well. It is irony that there are over 25 employees who have been promoted as inspectors, but they are all doing clerical jobs," they said. "The reason is that there is a strong coterie of inspectors, who have a political backing. So they don't contribute in revenue generation and also don't allow anybody to occupy their place. Even the top-level officials are silent on the issue," they added. If each building is charged Rs 10,000 as tax, it would amount to Rs 18 crore. Department sources said the MTP department should have been given a target not less than Rs 50 crore Bakshi Ram Arora, chairperson of House Tax Committee, says he will check if some big houses were exempted from paying taxes
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Food for thought
Amritsar, April 1 During the opening of the joint 'Mx Doner', Anske said under this name she would launch a chain of restaurants in India. Meanwhile, she is already running a food chain 'Taj of India' and a fast food joint 'Italian Restaurant and Gevaman Bakery' in Germany. "I visited Amritsar quite a few times and experienced different tastes here. I was surprised to find that people here are being served international and continental food without the original taste. It was then that I decided to launch my chain here. Besides, a range of international tastes in fast food, I will make sure the food has some Amritsarian flavour". The managing team would be from Germany.
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Confusion prevails as chemists asked to register under Food Safety Act
Amritsar, April 1 The chemists along with others selling food items were asked to get registered under the Act which came into effect in the state after August 8 last. Food businesses with an annual turnover of up to Rs 12 lakh are required to register under the Act. Those establishments with an annual turnover exceeding Rs 12 lakh are required to obtain a licence. In a press release issued, association president Surjit Mehta said, "The drug inspectors in various districts are not unanimous on the policy. The Act is applicable only on businesses dealing in food products, but the inspectors ask for registration for all the products." He said the shopkeepers are not instructed as how to get no objection certificate from tehsil, municipality or corporation concerned. The association asked the government to issue clear instructions so that there is no confusion.
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Health dept gears up to prevent summer diseases
It would ask residents to prevent water accumulation and to ensure proper disposal of junk to reduce chances of mosquitoes breeding at these places. District Epidemiologist Dr Charanjit Singh said, “People should not throw tyres, utensils and other such things which can hold water in the open.” He said a meeting of district-level monitoring committees would soon be held for the prevention of the summer diseases. He said officials of the other departments would also be sensitised on the issue. He added that the MC would also start fogging in different areas to kill the disease carriers. He said the department has planned various awareness programmes at schools and localities to educate people on the causes and symptoms of the diseases.
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Workshop on hernia surgery
Amritsar, April 1 During the workshop, interactive live surgeries were performed on nine patients. The surgeries were performed by Dr Pawanindra Lal, professor of surgery, MAMC, New Delhi, Dr YC Mishra from Lucknow and Dr SD Maurya, Sachkhand Hospital, Agra. Different anesthesia techniques were used and demonstrated by Dr RS Wann, Dr BK Wann and Dr Rupali Sehgal.
— TNS
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Amritsar, April 1
Amritsar, April 1
MTP department is considered to be the highest revenue-generating department, but it was a target of just Rs 15 crore. According to a rough estimate, if there are about 150 buildings coming up in a month, there would be 1,800 buildings coming up in a year.
The MC does not keep a tax record of Celebration Mall on Batala Road; Central Mall, Alantra Mall, JK Towers and Croma Mall, all located on Mall Road.
Amritsar, April 1