(Above) Eight members of a gang in the police custody; and (below) policemen show weapons seized from the accused in Amritsar on Tuesday. Photos: Vishal Kumar

Crime zone

• Lakwinder Singh, Buta Singh, who have been arrested, along with their accomplices Sarabjit Singh and Jaswinder Singh had raped a student and killed her uncle.
• Gang members were involved in two more rape cases and stealing of vehicles
• The police recovers four stolen pickup vans, two pistols and sharp-edged weapons

Amritsar, May 29
Aspiring councillors, who have been promising a clean city to woo voters, are resorting to defacement of the public property themselves by pasting their publicity material so as to garner support ahead of the elections.

But they have forgotten is that the posters are a sheer violation of model code of conduct, which was enforced within municipal limits since May 24, the day when the State Election Commission issued notification for the MC elections.

The code of conduct sternly demands that no political poster be pasted on any government or public property or even on private property without the prior permission from the district electoral office. But posters and buntings of the ruling combine were seen pasted on electricity poles, road dividers and in streets.

This could invite action against the candidate and the party under the provisions of the Punjab Prevention of Defacement of Public Properties Act.

The newly erected road dividers on the Majitha road have been defaced from all sides with a series of posters depicting BJP's Jugal Mahajan as one of the candidates for Ward 10.

Similarly, the posters BJP's Bakshi Ram Arora, contesting from Ward 50 were spotted on electricity poles on the Batala road. BJP's Suresh Mahajan (Ward 21) and Damandeep Singh (Ward 19) too did not lag behind from exploring their agenda through posters on the telephone and electricity poles, little realising the damage they have been causing to the public properties.

Though, more such posters were spotted on the electricity meters installed outside the houses at Medical Enclave, Lawrence road and Joshi Colony.

Another glaring violation of poll code was that these posters have no mention of their printer and publisher. These posters concluded by just mentioning 'Samooh Ilaaka Niwasi' (all residents of the vicinity).

Ironically, residents complained that these posters are pasted during late night hours. "We found the posters on our walls and electricity meters. It is ridiculous", said a resident of Lawrence Road.

"The election authorities always make tall claims of curbing any poll code violations, but it always ends up in a farce. Consequently, these leaders do not refrain from defacing the city without any guilt or shame," said a resident of Joshi Colony.

Amritsar, May 29
The Punjab Government has mooted the proposal of auctioning properties belonging to municipal corporations rather than mortgaging these properties to generate funds.

A defunct slaughter house has been identified for an open auction. Photo: Vishal Kumar

The government's assertion came following a petition filed by Jalandhar residents Sunita, Ritu and others before the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The petitioners had said instead of utilising enormous income generated through levying of taxes, the public land and properties meant for public use and utility were being mortgaged with the banks or the private institutions to raise loans purported to be distributed to the self-governed municipal corporations.

The Local Government department has issued fresh directions to municipal corporations of Amritsar, Jalandhar, Bathinda and Ludhiana to identify the unutilised land falling in their jurisdiction which can be put to sale through an open auction. The respective corporations would be the nodal agencies to conduct auction proceedings.

The money generated through this move, would be diverted to a common head of the Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Fund (PMIDF) Act 2011, under which Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Company (PMIDC) was formed. It is headed by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. These funds would be utilised for providing basic amenities like safe water supply, sewerage and sewage treatment plants, roads, slum development, street lights, solid waste management system in all the towns.

The Amritsar Municipal Corporation (MC) has identified six properties worth over Rs 150 crore, to be auctioned shortly.

These properties included: six acres of land at old Sabzi mandi near Hall gate, 2100 sq yards plot of defunct slaughter house near Nawan Kot, 1500 sq yard plot opposite to C-Division, sixteen booths lying adjacent to Automobile Workshop on Gole Bagh, 3800 sq yard plot on the Mall road, behind Commissioners residence and 2000 sq yard plot near Shaheed Udham Singh Foundation Hall near Gilwali gate.

Confirming the move, the AMC Commissioner Dharampal Gupta said, “The government has chalked out Rs 750 crore plans in the first phase, for urban development. The auction process has tentatively been scheduled for May 25 here for old slaughter house land and the booths. All the proceeds would directly go to PMIDF. Though, we expect that matching share would be ploughed back for development projects in Amritsar but ultimately it is for the PMIDC to decide.”

Meanwhile, a Designing and Planning Cell comprising five renowned experts from the fields of civil engineering, planning, finance, environment and traffic would carry out the development projects in a comprehensive manner.

Amritsar, May 29
Carved out of the agricultural land belonging to Mahal village, Ward 4 residents are grappling with the menace of contaminated groundwater.

In the absence of potable water supply by the Municipal Corporation, residents are forced to dig a deep bore well at the depth of 300 feet to thwart the problem, but they still complain that the water is contaminated.

Ganda nullah passing alongside the bypass road near the ward adds to the woes of inhabitants. The nullah becomes a breading ground of mosquitoes, flies and insects. This is the nullah which is the major reason for water contamination, said residents.

Located along the newly built four-laned highway from Amritsar-Jalandhar bypass to Attari-Wagah joint check post, many city dwellers in need of housing got attracted to it due to its increasing importance. However, the drain running between the highway and localities has become a biggest source of trouble for residents.

Other localities in the ward are Guru Ramdas Avenue, Guru Amar Das Avenue, Hargobind Avenue, Green City, Prem Nagar, Preet Vihar, Friends avenue, Gobind Avenue, Khairabad Colony, Palah Sahib Road and Mahal village.

These localities lack basic civic amenities like supply of safe drinking water, sewerage system, concrete roads and streetlights.

Amritsar, May 29
The Tungpai area in the Ward 19 lacks basic amenities such as water supply, poor roads and garbage dumps. The bad smell emanating from the nallis is unbearable. The residents said that they have got accustomed to it.

The safai walas hardy visit the area as a result the garbage heaps can be spotted at places. Even the open private properties have turned into garbage dumps as the heaps are hardy lifted, complained the residents.

The residents complained that very few homes in ward Tungpai have water supply connections. “The water supply is too short. Sometimes we keep waiting for it all day,” said a woman resident.

The streets in Pawan Nagar area are too pot-holed. The residents said that as the Tungpai area is on a low lying surface and most of its streets are still kucha, they have difficult situation during monsoons.

The residents also complained that as the local Councilor Charanjit Kaur belonged to the Congress, the BJP led Municipal Corporation had not cared much for the development. It was recently that the councilors’ family joined the BJP after which few funds as a new tube well and street pavement projects have been initiated. Charanjit Kaurs’ son

Damandeep Singh is contesting elections on the BJP ticket this time.

• The area has almost remained neglected as the Councilor was from the Congress and the SAD-BJP was in power. The streets in few areas need repair and water supply too should be ensured. The Tungpai area is more like a slum than a residential colony. -- Surinder Kumar

• The Councilor had promised us water supply and good streets but both the promises were not fulfilled. We have not seen safai walas here ever. They are not ready to come here and prefer to sweep in good areas. -- Mangal Singh

• The water logging is a big problem in low lying areas. The bad smell is unbearable. We want that at least the garbage should be lifted in time. The heaps have come at places as a result house flies are making problems for the people. The locality is not hygienic. -- Balwinder Singh