The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Govt razing British-era bungalow for 5-star hotel Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service Amritsar, April 15 Despite protests by various city-based NGOs, the SAD-BJP government went ahead with the demolition of a British-era residential bungalow to pave way for the construction of a five-star hotel-cum-convention centre. Located in the vicinity of Amritsar Cantonment, the bungalow is spread over nearly six acres of land and it was earlier allotted a senior official of the Irrigation Department. With a view to preserve the British time bungalows, Amritsar Vikas Manch (AVM), Punjab Pollution Control Committee (PPCC), Mission Aagaaz, Kheti Virasat Mission, Tarksheel Society and International Welfare Society have formed a Joint Action Committee (JAC). The JAC has written to the Union and state governments to drop its plan to auction irrigation department’s canal colony for constructing commercial complexes. Mission Aagaaz general secretary Gurbhej Singh said their efforts failed to move the government and its agencies are now demolishing the beautiful architecture. He expressed his surprise at the functioning of the government which was spending crores in preserving many historic structures like Gobindgarh Fort, Rambagh and others. On the other hand, it has engaged labour force to pull down over a century-old building. He said under the RTI Act, he had sought to know from the Army Headquarters, New Delhi, whether the Punjab government had taken any NOC from the Army before proceeding ahead with the five-star hotel-cum-convention centre in the vicinity of Amritsar cantonment. It marked the letter to Station Headquarter, Amritsar Cantonment, which further marked it to cantonment board. Conservationists felt that the demolition of the residential buildings, which are the model of the British period planning and architecture, would be lost forever. They said the pavements at the cantonment provided an example that how architectures of that period took care of needs of physically challenged persons. They said architecture of these buildings was of vintage value. The ventilation technique and materials used for the construction have no comparison even today, they added. He felt the implementation of the government’s plan would transform the character of the cantonment area and more part of the city would become devoid of green cover. The irrigation department has 16 British-era kothis spread over an area of about 31 acres in the vicinity of cantonment. These kothis were occupied not only by officials of the irrigation department, but also by judicial, police and PWD B&R officials. The government plan reveals that barring five bungalows --- four with the judges and kothi no 3 for officials of the irrigation department, the rest of them would be pulled down to pave way for a five-star hotel, five separate commercial complexes and an underground parking lot. The transformation is taking place under the government’s policy of Optimum Utilisation of Government Land (OUGL). As per the plan, government department’s abandoned and surplus land would be put to developmental use, but with a rider that it could not be sold. The six-acre hotel site is with the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB) which has zeroed in on a private firm to lease the site for a period of 50 years. Meanwhile, the rest of the land has been handed over to the PUDA. It would demolish a century-old residential buildings and then hand them over to private concerns for setting up five private commercial complexes. These NGOs are also annoyed at the indifferent approach of the government towards the environment as scores of age-old trees would also be axed. All officials of the irrigation department would move into kothi no 3 where 64 units, including 53 for class three and fourth employees, and two parks had been raised on 2.8 acres of land. Located in the vicinity of Amritsar Cantonment, the bungalow is spread over nearly six acres of land and was earlier allotted a senior official of the irrigation department City-based NGOs have strongly opposed the govt move 10 more structures will be demolished in order to set up commercial complexes and underground parking lot
	6 of family charged with Army man’s murder PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, April 15 The Majitha police has booked six members of a family for allegedly killing Jaswinder Singh, an Army jawan and a resident of Kaler Mangat village. The victim was found dead at his residence in January 2010. The police has registered a case under Sections 302 and 149 of the IPC at Majitha police station following a complaint lodged by deceased’s mother Charan Kaur after an elapse of two years. The village is located in the jurisdiction of Amritsar rural police district. Those booked are Chanan Singh, his wife Parkash Kaur and their four sons Ajmer Singh, Kewal Singh, Palwinder Singh and Bakshish Singh, all residents of same village. The police had initiated proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC at the time of incident. His family had not also raised any suspicion over his death. Jaswinder slept on the night of January 10, 2010, but did not wake up in the morning. Later, he was declared dead. Ravinder Singh, SHO Majitha police station said that he was approached by the family a couple of days ago. He went through his file and the postmortem reports of the deceased received by the police. “His chemical examination report of his viscera confirmed the presence of pesticides mixed with liquor which indicated that he might have been poisoned to death,” he said. Subsequently, the police lodged the complaint and registered a case in this connection, he added. The incident has also raised a question mark why the earlier police officials failed to take notice of the chemical examination and post-mortem reports of the deceased. Ravinder said the family recently suspected a foul play in the death of Jaswinder following which the police registered a case. Fact file Jaswinder Singh, an Army jawan and a resident of Kaler Mangat village, was found dead at his residence in Jan 2010 Chanan Singh, his wife Parkash Kaur and sons Ajmer Singh, Kewal Singh, Palwinder Singh and Bakshish Singh
	Shivani death case: Autopsy confirms murder PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, April 15 The post-mortem report of Shivani, who was found dead at her in-laws’ residence, has revealed that she was strangulated to death and had not committed suicide as was projected by her in-laws. “The report received by the police confirmed that she was strangled to death,” said Sukhwinder Singh, SHO, Civil Lines police station, and investigating officer in the case. It may be recalled that the police has booked the in-laws of the victim in a dowry death case following the mysterious death of Shivani. They were booked on the statement of victim’s father Kailash Chander. She was found dead at her in-laws’ residence on April 11. While her in-laws said she had committed suicide by hanging herself, the preliminary investigation of the police revealed that she did not commit suicide but died due to strangulation. She had strangulation marks. Sukwhinder singh said all the accused have been arrested and further investigations were on. Shivani (in picture) was found dead at her in-laws’ residence on April 11 In-laws had claimed that she committed suicide by hanging herself with the ceiling
	Credit card cheaters strike again, dupe resident of Rs 40,000 PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, April 15 In another case of cheating, several youths, posing as employees of a private bank, duped a resident of Krishan Kot of Islamabad area of Rs 40,000. They exchanged his credit card on a pretext that his credit limit has been increased and his old credit card should be exchanged with a new one. This is the second such incident in the city. Earlier, one Nageen Chand of Krishna Square was cheated by the same accused. The accused were identified as Ajay and Rahul, who posed as employees of a leading private bank. The Civil Lines police has registered a case under Section 420 of the IPC on the complaint of Bal Kishan, a resident of Krishan Kot, Islamabad here. Bal Kishan, in his complaint, said he received a phone call from one Ajay from a mobile number (08745004126) who informed him that his credit card limit has been increased from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1.75 lakh. He said on April 4, he received another phone call from Rahul from a mobile number (08745004118) wanting his signatures on some documents for the same. “The accused got my signatures, two photographs and his credit card. He tore the credit card in two parts and told that the new credit card would be issued within two to three days,” he said. On very next day, he was shocked to receive a SMS message that an amount of Rs 40,500 was withdrawn through his card from an ATM at Faridabad. Earlier too, a similar case was reported with the Rambagh police in which the two youths (with same names) posed as employees of another leading private bank and defrauded one Nageed Chand of Krishna Square. The youths had duped him of Rs 62,000. Police Commissioner RP Mittal said he was not aware of such cases. “But I will depute an official to investigate into the case.” Two youths, posing as employees of a private bank, take the credit card of Bal Kishan on a pretext that his credit limit has been increased and his old credit card should be exchanged with a new one The youths withdraw Rs 40,500 from an ATM at Faridabad
	MC gears up for monsoons, starts sewerage desilting drive GS Paul Tribune News Service Amritsar, April 15 The Municipal Corporation is gearing up for the monsoon season. For the first time, the MC has chalked out a 51-day desilting drive worth Rs 10 lakh. The corporation has deputed at least 72 sewer men to clean the main sewerage lines of all 65 wards of the holy city. Sources said around 150 million litres of water pass through the 872-km sewerage. The MC has divided the holy city into several zones. Sources said the zone-wise expenditure would be Rs 50,424 for Zone no 1; Rs 42,402 for Zone 1-A; Rs 80,000 for Zone 2; Rs 42,000 for Zone 3, Rs 36,000 for Zone 3-A; Rs 42, 402 for Zone 4; Rs 48,132 for Zone 5; Rs 57,000 for Zone 6; Rs 60,000 for Zone 6-A; Rs 46,000 for Zone 7; Rs 42,000 for Zone 7-A, Rs 57,000 for Zone 8. The rest of the fund will be utilised in other zones. Even as the MC has deputed its officials to carry out the work, the respective area councillors have been asked to keep an eye on the work. MC Commissioner Dharampal Gupta said the sewerage desilting process was being done for the past few years but this time it was being executed well in advance and in a more efficient and effective way. “I have already constituted the teams and the work would start within a day or two. Our teams would work in collaboration with councillors of respective areas. The councillors would guide our officials on how to go about the work in their areas,” said Gupta. Various areas in the city grapple with sever water logging problem during the monsoon every year. Due to the clogging of manhole and drainpipes rainwater floods many areas, including posh areas like Lawrence Road, Madan Mohan Malviya road, parts of GT Road in the Putlighar area.
	Pulse Polio: 1.6 lakh kids administered drops Amritsar, April 15 Industry and Commerce Minister Anil Joshi inaugurated the Pulse Polio campaign by administering polio drops to children at the Golden Temple today. Joshi said the government is making all efforts to root out the deadly disease from the state. He said people should extend their support to the health department teams in the immunisation drive. Civil Surgeon Dr Manjit Singh Randhawa said the department had set up 1,485 booths at various places. He said in total 1,61,725 children were administered drops during the day. He said 67,457 children were given drops in the urban areas and 94,268 in the rural areas. Dr Pawan Verma, District Immunisation Officer (DIO), said the department in one day has completed 46 per cent of the children targeted. As many as 2,816 teams have been formed for the door-to-door campaign during the next two days to cover the rest of children, the official said. — TNS
	GNDH plays with fire Most of its fire extinguishers lying defunct Manmeet Singh Gill Tribune News Service Amritsar, April 15 When it comes to fire safety measures, Guru Nanak Dev Hospital seems to be ill-equipped to handle any emergency. Its most of the fire extinguishing equipment have worn out. The fire hoses and water pipes installed at most of the corridors in the hospital have outlived their usefulness. The hoses and pipes from few other places are missing. Though the hospital has fixed few fire extinguishers at its emergency ward and few other places, most of the employees lack any information on how to use them. The emergency block is the only place in the hospital which is comparatively better equipped than all other wards and buildings. But the Out Patient Department (OPD) surely lacks when it comes to fire fighting arrangements. Few of the fire hoses are missing and the glass panes of cases storing the fire fighting equipment are broken at the department. A visitor to the hospital, Harkirat Singh said, “The hospital must upgrade its fire safety equipment to tackle an emergency. Just installing these equipment is not sufficient. Most of this existing equipment will fail to work if there is a fire.” Another visitor, Sukhdev Singh said, “The hospital management seems to be indifferent. Perhaps it is waiting for some incident to happen before taking any action.” He said fire safety equipment is necessary to douse any fire at preliminary stage. Hospital’s Medical Superintendent Dr SS Shergill said the fire safety equipment is installed at various places and these are upgraded and inspected from time to time. He said the hospital will make sure that all the equipment is in working order.
	Police, admn overlook begging on traffic signals GS Paul Tribune News Service Amritsar, April 15 An 11-year-old Sita with her two-year-old brother in her lap runs after a speedy vehicle on the Lawrence road traffic signal. She hardly realises that she is not only putting herself and her brother’s life at risk, but also that of the drivers and other passengers. This is a common sight at almost all the traffic signals in the city. Courtesy: Lack of accountability of the police department and absence of concrete policy initiated by the district administration. Begging has taken the shape of profession and it is omnipresent, be it on traffic signal, residential locality or markets. They do not shirk playing shrewd tricks or tell all sorts of lies possibly to draw the commuters’ attention. Even as the district administration conducts raids from time to time, only to put them up at an abandoned building. Yet this hospitality has failed to transform them and they come back on the streets. The police in this regard showed helplessness. No action can be taken against them until and unless somebody files a complaint against them, a police officer said. At least the policemen on duty at the traffic signals can ask them to leave. Even as the Prevention of Begging Act has already been enforced in the state, yet no case has been registered against even a single beggar. Mark it, ‘organised’ begging group cannot be ruled out here. Nevertheless, a few months ago the administration had busted a gang and released over 10 Nepali children who were forced to beg around the Golden Temple complex. The police said the children were taught to play shrewd tricks to draw the attention of the people. Most of these beggars were found near the Golden Temple, Dussehra Ground, Shiv Dev Mandir, Longawali Devi Mandir, Bhandari Pul and Lohgarh area. The prominent signals where they could be found in abundance include Novelty light points on Lawrence Road and Four S Chowk. Brij Bedi, a social activist and former chief traffic warden, said the police has spent lakhs on providing patrolling vehicles but of no use. “If the administration feels the need, we as an NGO can offer our services,” he said. Even as the Amritsar administration in collaboration with the Red Cross Society has launched rehabilitation scheme and made arrangements for their free stay at Old Karam Singh Ward but despite getting three-square meal a day and other basic necessities, the beggars prefer to be back on roads. They say they can get anything between Rs 250-300 daily from begging. “How long would they keep us at Karam Singh Ward? The government has no programme for us. After some days, they too let us go and we come back here,” said Ram, before tapping the panes of vehicles.
	Punjab not facing financial crisis, says Finance Minister Tribune News Service Amritsar, April 15 Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa during a visit to the Golden Temple said the state is not going through any financial crisis. He termed the talks about the state being on the verge of imposition financial emergency as rubbish. Dhindsa said if there are some problems that would be sorted out by the end of the year. Dhindsa was referring to a statement made by the Peoples’ Party of Punjab President, Manpreet Singh Badal. Badal said the state has been burdened due to the implementation of Sixth Pay Commission Report. However, he added that the state’s economy is sound and there won’t be any situation where the employees would fail to get their salaries. He said income of the state from various sources has doubled whereas its liabilities have gone down to 30 per cent from 44 per cent. He also refuted the allegations that funds sent by the central government are not being utilised. He added that at present 90 per cent of the union government’s funds have been utilised. To a query put forward by the media that chief parliamentary secretaries are a burden on the state exchequer, Dhindsa said the system is prevalent in all the states and it would not hamper the economy in any way.
	Health department to introduce online registration of birth, deaths Manmeet Singh Gill Tribune News Service Amritsar, April 15 The district health department in an attempt to check delay and corruption in the system has proposed to introduce online registration of birth and death certificates. The proposed system would enable people to submit the applications online and to pay the requisite fee without coming to the respective offices. However, the applicants have to visit the office in person to receive the certificates. The same system introduced by passport offices has already become a hit with the applicants. At present, people are facing problem while submitting applications for birth and death certificates. Getting the same is another headache. People need the birth and death certificates for various legal obligations and therefore they often had to bribe officer concern to speed up the process. Earlier the health department had taken steps to reduce the plight of the applicants by keeping checks on agents, installation of CCTV cameras and holding camps to clear the backlog of applications. In January, the office had cleared backlog of 600 applications. Talking to The Tribune Swinder Singh, an applicant, said, “People need birth certificates of their children as these are required for admissions in schools and for various other purposes. But the employees make the applicants come again and again. The motive is to extract money from the people by harassing.” Yogesh Arora, another applicant, said, “The birth and death certificates are very difficult to get. The concerned employees should not harass people.” He added that it takes around one month to get the certificate. Civil Surgeon Dr Manjit Singh Randhawa said, “The online system would save a lot of money and time. The applicants would not have to travel all the way to the offices. They would not have to stand in long queues to submit the application.” He said the health department is making all efforts to provide a speedy and transparent service to the public.
	Bar association organises cricket tourney Tribune News Service Amritsar, April 15 During the ML Saini Memorial Cricket Tournament, Sultan Eleven defeated Tiger Eleven by 40 runs at a match held at Gandhi ground here today. The tournament was organised by the Amritsar Bar Association. Surabh Changotra, with 24 runs and four wickets to his credit, was declared the man of the match. In the second match, Kings’ Eleven defeated Diamond Eleven with a margin of 75 runs. The Kings’ Eleven Captain Pradeep Kumar Saini was declared the man of the match. Pradeep Saini, president of bar association said semifinals would be held on Monday. He said the annual cricket championship helps to get a break from the stressing schedule. He said the association organises various events for the advocates and cricket tournament is one of them.