NEIGHBOURHOOD

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MC POLLS PATIALA
Fire Safety neglected
Umesh Dewan
Tribune News Service

Patiala, May 31
In what may be termed as highly irresponsible attitude of the Patiala Municipal Corporation that may prove fatal for the human lives, the Fire Brigade Wing of the civic body is in a deplorable state. Presently, the Fire Brigade Wing has three fire tenders, which are in a pathetic condition due to lack of maintenance. The fourth fire tender is defunct and interestingly all the four fire tenders are not insured. Information gathered by The Tribune shows that during the past five years, the SAD-BJP house has not paid any attention towards the upgradation of the Fire Wing infrastructure.

Inquiries brought to light that out of the total staff strength of 61, the Fire Wing has 37 employees with rest of the posts lying vacant. Because of the shortage of the manpower, on many occasions, the firemen have to even skip their weekly offs. Sources in the municipal body said, “Sometime ago, the MC purchased suction whole equipment (used for filling the fire tender through suction equipment from the waster sources like etc). The equipment was faulty and lying defunct in the MC garage.”

Preferring anonymity, firemen said that from the past three years, they have not been provided the uniform by the civic body. Apart from this, the fire brigade has no hydraulic staircase, which is of utmost requirement in case of fire incident in highrise building. However, when contacted Additional Divisional Fire Officer (ADFO) Patiala MC Gurbir Singh agreed that there were vacancies and some shortcomings but refused to further comment on the matter.

Patiala, May 31
Notwithstanding the fact that every year, hundreds of dog bite cases are reported from Patiala city, the authorities of the Municipal Corporation have not done anything to find solution to the menace of the stray dogs. Instead of taking any measures for the problem, which is aggravating with every passing day, the civic body miserably failed to even launch a sterilisation drive to control the ever-increasing population of the stray dogs. As per the figures available, about 2899 dog bite cases have been reported at Government Rajindra Hospital, Patiala, during the period from January 2009 till February this year. Despite the persistent increase in the number of dog bite cases, Patiala MC failed to check the stray dogs menace.

Dr DS Bhullar, secretary of IMA (Patiala) and secretary general of the Society for Peoples’ Welfare and Awareness Patiala (SPWAP), an NGO, stated that out of total number of dog bite cases in the state, Patiala district is on the top.

Dr Bhullar, who had filed an RTI seeking information on this particular issue from MC, said, “Most of my queries were remained unanswered. However, responding to one question, the civic body has informed that total number of stray dogs in the Patiala city is about 2,200. Now, I would be filing an appeal for getting information pertaining to the other related issues, which civic body has not replied to.” He further said that it was high time that the MC should take necessary measures to end the stray dog menace.

Meanwhile, a visit to various city areas including Model Town, Sewak Colony, Gian Colony, Guru Nanak Enclave, Adarsh Nagar, Chotti Baradari, New Lal Bagh brought to light that stray does keep roaming on the roads and frequently attacks the passer-bys. 

Mohali, May 31
Fiza, a divorcee of former Haryana Deputy Chief Minister, Chander Mohan, was arrested by the police here today on charges of criminal intimidation, trespass, and voluntarily hurting and rioting.

She was produced in the court where she was remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.

According to the police, Fiza was earlier, booked under various sections related to bailable offences. However, after a senior police official had recommended action against her in her inquiry report, she was arrested under certain sections in which the offences were non-bailable.

On January 11, Fiza was injured in a bloody clash with family members of her neighbour over a petty issue. Neighbour Sanjay Aggarwal his wife Neeru and their three children had also received injuries in the clash. While Fiza was admitted to the GMCH, Sector 32, Chandigarh, with head injuries, Sanjay Aggarwal was admitted to the Government Civil Hospital, Phase 6, here.

Chandigarh, May 31
As many as five cases of vehicle theft have been reported in the city in the past 24 hours.

Kamal Pal, a resident of Sector 15-B, reported that his Indica Car (number HP-39C-4747), which was parked in front of his house, was stolen on the night of 29.

Sandeep Saini, a resident of Daria village, reported that his Pulsar motorcycle (number CH-03U-7471) which was parked near the HDFC Bank, Phase-1, Industrial Area, was stolen on Tuesday night.

Atma Ram, a resident of Subhash Nagar, Manimajra, reported that his Splendor motorcycle (number CH-03M-9826), which was parked near SCO No. 60-61, Sector-34, was stolen on May 29.

Gurinder Singh, a resident of Sector 24-D, reported that some body stole his Splendor motorcycle (number CH-03Y-5844), when it was parked in front of Gurdwara Sahib, Sector-38.

Chandigarh, May 31
Continuing to perform well in his home ground of Chandigarh Golf Club, local golfer Harendra Gupta emerged as the title contender on day three of the ongoing PGTI Players Championship.

Harendra Gupta posted a four-under-68 to move to the total score of 11-under-205. Rashid Khan of Delhi is three strokes behind the leader in second place.

Harendra Gupta (68-69-68), the overnight joint leader, took the lead early in his round after he birdied second, fourth and seventh, landing his shots within six feet on all three occasions. He dropped a 15-feet putt for birdie on the 10th and followed up with a 12-footer for birdie on the 11th. He again dropped a stroke after missing a three-feet par putt on the 12th.

On other hand, Rashid Khan (69-71-68) fired five birdies against a bogey in his round of 68 to be placed second at eight-under-208.

Shankar Das (69-68-72) of Kolkata, the overnight joint leader, slipped to third place after his even-par-72 in round three. He scored a total of 209.

Delhi's Shamim Khan, Md Islam of Patna and Sri Lankan Mithun Perera are tied at fourth place with six-under-210.

Chandigarh, May 31
The cricket teams of St Stephen's School, Sector-26, and St Anne's School lifted the title of boys (U-18) and boys (U-13) categories respectively in the first Brother Mccann Cricket tournament being played at St John's School, Sector-26.

In the finals of boys (U-18) category, St Stephen's defeated the host team of St John's.

Batting first, the wining side posted a total of 132 runs for 7 in 20 overs with Jaspreet (71) being the highest scorer for the team. Gaurav (20) was the other main scorer. For the bowling side, Rehmat Brar took 2 wickets for 33 runs.

In reply, the St John team could score 124 runs for 6 in 20 overs. Jayant (37) and Varun (29) were the main scorers for the team. For St Stephen's Sukhraj was the main wicket taker, grabbing 4 for 26.

In the finals of boys (U-13) category, the wining side beat APJ cricket academy. Electing to bat first, the wining team posted a total of 113 runs, losing four wickets in 20 overs.

Anmol contributed the lion's share scoring 47 runs, while Rashndeep added 20 runs to the team's total. For the APJ team, Akash took 3 wickets. Chasing the target, the APJ team bundled out for 91 runs in 19 overs. Harry (22) and Akash (18) were the main scorers for the team.

Bowlers Ritwick, Utkarsh, Iktej and Anmol claimed two wickets each.

Chandigarh, May 31
The Ludhiana team stood tall against Chandigarh during the second day’s play in the ongoing match of Punjab inter-state cricket championship for boys (U-22) at the PAU grounds, Ludhiana.

Continuing from their overnight score of 331 for 6 in 98 overs, Ludhiana scored 442 runs in 132.3 overs.

Overnight not out batsman Devinder Sidhu completed a well deserved century (112 off 212, 14 boundaries and two sixes). He and Gurinder Singh were involved in a 148 runs stand for the seventh wicket.

Earlier, the Ludhiana team was reduced to 364 for 9 in 113.2 overs. Sandeep Singh was the last man out after he was trapped in front by Pankaj for a forceful 62 off 73 balls, containing 12 well executed boundaries and one lofty six.

Sukhjinder Singh remained unbeaten on 20. For Chandigarh, left arm spinner Gurinder Singh claimed 4 for 100 while Rattan Singh took 2 for 110.

In reply, the Chandigarh team lost their opener Jaskaranveer Singh (16) when the team’s total was 28. Karan Goel (55) and Simranpreet Singh (29) added 52 runs for the second wicket before Simranpreet Singh was cleaned up by Himanshu for 29 off 47.

Chandigarh were 128 for 2 in 58 overs at the end of day’s play.

Brief Scores:

Ludhiana (First innings) - 442 all out in 132.3 overs (Nikhil Chaudhary 95, Devinder Sidhu 112, Gurinder Hara 54, Sandeep Singh 62, Rattan Singh 2 for 110, Gurinder Singh 4 for 100, Avilash Sharma 1 for 118).

Chandigarh (First innings) - 128 for 2 in 58 overs (Birkaran Karan Goel 55 not out, Simranpreet Singh 29, Naveen Dhiman 22 not out, Himanshu 2 for 42)

In the second match of the day, resuming at the overnight total of 53 for 4 in 20 overs, Amritsar ended the days play at 356 for 8 in 120 overs against Mohali.

Batsmen Abhinav Sharma and Navneet Singh put on 163 runs for the fifth wicket in 44 overs before Navneet Singh was trapped in front by Birkanwar Singh Virk for 87 off 133. Abhinav was then joined by Arush and the two put on 38 runs for the sixth wicket before Abhinav was trapped in front by Gagandeep for a sedate 81 off 194 inclusive of 13 boundaries.

Batsmen Arush and Vinay Chaudhary stitched a 69 runs partnership for seventh wicket to give the team a prefect ending at the end of day’s play. Arush scored unbeaten 70 off 191 with 10 boundaries. The Amritsar team is leading Mohali by 125 runs on the first innings with two wickets in hand.

Brief Scores:

Mohali (First innings)- 231 all out in 72.1 overs (Harpreet Mander 72, Sachin Sohal 63, Arshdeep Brar 36, Narinder Rathore 20, Sunny 3 for 49, Vinay Chaudhary 3 for 64, Abhinav Sharma 2 for 33, Ashwani 2 for 56)

Amritsar (First innings) - 356 for 8 in 120 overs (Rohan Marwaha 18, Abhinav Sharma 81, Navneet Singh 87, Arush 70 not out, Vinay Chaudhary 28, Barinder Singh 3 for 107, Narinder Kumar 1 for 60, Birkanwar Virk 1 for 5, Arshdeep Brar 1 for 54, Gagandeep Singh 1 for 48.,

In the third match at Burlton Park, Jalandhar, Patiala continued from 298 for 7 and went on to score 349 in 111.3 overs. Chasing the score, Jalandhar posted 291 for 6 in 77 overs at the end of day’s play.

Earlier Patiala’s overnight pair of Amrinder Singh and Bhavish Goel added 42 runs for the eighth wicket with Bhavish scoring 68 off 98 including 9 boundaries and two sixes. For the bowling side, left arm spinner Yogesh Kumar remained the pick of the bowlers, taking six wickets.

In reply, the Jalandhar team piled up runs through a brilliant century by Himanshu Satyawan. He contributed an unbeaten knock of 106 runs off 124 balls (11 boundaries and one six). The team is 57 runs away from the vital first innings lead against Patiala.

Brief Scores:

Patiala (First innings) - 349 for all in 111.3 overs (Himanshu Chawla 51, Mohit Mohindra 81, Vikrant 83, Amrinder Singh 27, Bhavish Goel 68, Yogesh Kumar 6 for 112).

Jalandhar (First innings) - 291 for 6 in 77 overs (Nitish Sahota 41, Love Kumar 30, Siddharth Sharma 40, Himanshu Satyawan 106 not out, Yogesh Kumar 36, Amarinder Singh 2 for 106, Beant Singh 1 for 37, Sompal 1 for 33).