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Congress gives up on Ludhiana rebels
Experts to study water-logging: Ashwani
A water-logged street in Amritsar. A file photograph
Amarinder claims party morale high
PCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh at a party meeting in Amritsar. Photo: Vishal Kumar
We will raise issue of ‘buying’ candidates in assembly: Sekhri
No increase in MBBS seats in 37 years
Special teams for sensitive booths
Another battalion for disaster management
Cut taxes on petrol or face stir: Congress
Dal Khalsa releases ‘Directory of
Martyrs’
Dog bite case: Central team to visit
Raikot
22 judicial officers promoted in Punjab
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MUNICIPAL POLLS 2012
Ludhiana city, called the Manchester of Punjab, is a city of contrasts. It has plush malls and squalor-filled illegal residential colonies coming up alongside, writes
Puneet Pal Singh Gill
One of the most populated cities in Punjab, the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation is often dubbed as the state’s richest civic body. Yet several developmental projects in the city are hanging fire.
The Ludhiana MC’s budget for the year 2012-2013 did not bring much cheer to the city. Pegged at Rs 741.25, it is Rs 60.19 crore less than that for the preceding year. The Lakkar Bridge project, the city bus service, the indoor stadium on Pakhowal Road and flats for the poor are some of the projects that are yet to be completed. Other projects, like the underpass near the mini secretariat, have been completed but have not been thrown open to the public. The MC’s main source of income is from the VAT, house tax, octroi on electricity, advertisement tax and tehbazaari. The MC plans to spend Rs 34.77 crore on new roads and Rs 37.50 crore on maintenance of roads. It would be spending Rs 25 crore on new bridges compared to Rs 13 crore last time. The city has the unenviable distinction of being among the most polluted in India. The MC has earmarked Rs 4.5 crore for parks. The civic body would be spending Rs 79.50 crore on the development of slum colonies and outer areas. For municipal solid waste, the MC proposes to spend Rs 13
crore. Brief history The Ludhiana Municipal Corporation came into existence in 1978. In the elections held for the first time in 1991, Chaudhary Sat Parkash of the BJP was elected Mayor and Surjit Singh Ahluwalia Senior Deputy Mayor. Others who have been Mayors of the city are Apinder Singh Grewal (SAD) in 1997, Nahar Singh Gill (Congress) in 2002 and Hakam Singh Giaspura (SAD) since 2007. For the already ailing Fire Brigade Department, the MC has cut the budget from Rs 2.95 crore ( 2011-2012) to Rs 2.35 crore for 2012-13. During the past five years, the MC has spent most of its budget on roads and sewerage. Out of a total budget of Rs 3,200 crore (from 2007-12), a sum of Rs 1,100 crore was spent on staff salaries and the remaining on development projects. During 2011-12, the MC earned a revenue of Rs 250 crore from VAT and Rs 80 crore from house tax. At least Rs 95 crore were spent on roads, Rs 90 crore on sewerage, Rs 20 crore on water supply, Rs 15 crore on streetlights and Rs 10 crore on parks. For the current fiscal (2012-13), the MC expects an income of Rs 280 crore from VAT and Rs 90 crore from house tax. Last year, the MC remained cash-strapped till a comprehensive recovery drive in February. The MC has been able to generate a whopping revenue of around Rs 123 crore in February and March (Rs 101 crore in March alone) from recovery of pending dues, VAT, octroi and a PIDB grant.
Water supply, sewerage
For the 460-odd tubewells maintained by the civic body, only 24 persons have been deputed for water chlorination. Some of the chlorinators are out of order. This has been affecting the quality of water being supplied to a city with a population of over 13 lakh. Every year, cases of gastroenteritis and other water-borne diseases are reported from areas such as Fauji Colony, Dhandari, Giaspura, Sherpur, Punjabi Bagh Colony, Ishwar Colony, Prem Nagar, Madhopuri and Basti Jodhewal. Bacteria were found in 58 water samples of the 213 taken between January - April this year. At several places, the water supplied gets mixed with sewage because of leakages as there is inadequate gap between the drinking water and sewer lines. Even as the MC is laying new sewer lines in the city, the slow pace is leading to a chaos in several areas. The MC officials as well as area councillors often blame the Sewerage Board for going slow. In the city’s old parts, the sewerage network is very old. As the population has increased manifold, the system remains choked for most of the time. Ironically, sewerage water is also dumped into the Budha Nullah, which further pollutes the Sutlej.
Illegal colonies
Illegal residential colonies have come up in and around the city. The MC has failed to check the menace because of political interference. Gill constituency MLA Darshan Singh Shivalik has been demanding that the MC limits be extended by a kilometre so that people living in these colonies are able to get civic benefits. The issue of increasing the MC limits has rocked the MC House meetings on several
occasions. While Health Minister Satpal Gosain, Dakha MLA Darshan Singh Shivalik and Akali councillors support this proposal, Senior Deputy Mayor Parveen Bansal, who is from the BJP, and Congress councillors are against it. They say if the MC limits are increased, it will put an extra burden on the sewerage network.
Storm water system
Storm water system is missing in most city areas. Water remains accumulated on roads whenever it rains, damaging roads.
Solid waste management
Ludhiana generates 900 metric tonnes of solid waste daily and its disposal has been one of the major challenges for the MC. With the solid waste management project already underway, a private firm has started lifting garbage. The Central Government has given permission to the MC to set up a solid waste management plant.
Areas of concern
The Bio-remediation project to clean the Budha Nullah has begun. The project was inaugurated by the then Environment and Forests Minister, Jairam Ramesh, on April 23 last year. Bio-remediation is easy to handle and does not need highly skilled manpower. It has eco-technological horizontal filtration with different filters, which remove suspended and dissolved impurities. The fire brigade needs to be upgraded as there are only 12 fire tenders for a city of 13 lakh. The MC should also check violations of building bylaws as several commercial buildings are coming up in residential areas, often leading to traffic congestion.
Looking ahead
Even as the MC was able to complete projects like the Gill Chowk flyover, Partap Chowk flyover and the Jagraon bridge ramp, several other projects are incomplete.
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Congress gives up on Ludhiana rebels
Chandigarh, June 5 In another embarrassment for the Congress, its candidate from Ward No 31, which includes the residences of PCC president Capt Amarinder Singh and DCC (Urban) president Prem Kishan Puri, withdrew from the race in favour of Akali candidate Harpal Juneja, SAD minister Bikram Majitha’s confidant. The development occurred late last night. Jalandhar civic poll committee incharge Ashwani Sekhri is banking on the PCC president’s visit to the city tomorrow to persuade some of the 12 rebels to withdraw from the fray. Rebels from the city are, however, in no mood to relent. In Patiala, civic poll committee incharge Choudhary Jagjit Singh held a meeting with Patiala MP Preneet Kaur and other committee members. Here too the party is finding it difficult to rein in 20 rebels. Many of them owe allegiance to former Mayor Vishnu Sharma. The former Mayor, when questioned, said he had met the DCC president and assured him of “wholehearted” support to the Congress candidates. But he had requested him to “permit” him to support Independents in wards where official Congress candidates were allegedly in league with the SAD. Ludhiana committee incharge Laal Singh said there was little hope that any of the 19 rebels standing for the elections as part of the Congress Workers’ Forum, would withdraw from the fray. He said he had recommended that they be expelled. These rebels are: Gurdeep Singh (Ward 1), Usha Rani and her husband Dev Raj (Ward 2), former councillor Rakesh Kumar (Ward 3), former councillor Sardul Singh Grewal (Ward 5), Ashwani Sharma (Ward 18), Rajesh Jain (Ward 19), Hardyal Prince (Ward 22), Ashok Kumar Virmani (Ward 25), Baljinder Singh Sandhu and his supporter Raj Kumar Sood (Ward 31), Anita Kharbanda and her husband Krishan Kharbanda (Ward 32), Ajay Walia and youth leader Robin Bajaj (Ward 34), Dolly Thapar and her husband Ashok Thapar (Ward 35), Mukesh Lambah (Ward 37), Harish Kumar (Ward 40), Gurmail Nela (Ward 46), Brij Mohan Sharma (Ward 48), Ravinder Singh (Ward 52), Manisha Sharma and her husband Vicky Gypsy (Ward 54) and Hans Raj (Ward 75).
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Experts to study water-logging: Ashwani
New Delhi, June 5 The areas selected for the study include
Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Ferozepur, Fazilka, Muktsar and Bathinda. There are reports that at least four lakh acres of land in the state is critically waterlogged due to the rise in the water table (within 2 metres of land surface in some parts). The 11-member group includes former Planning Commission member Dr
Vaidyanathan, Dr Tushar Shah, Senior Fellow, International Water Management Institute, and Prof Karan Singh of Punjab Agriculture University,
Ludhiana. The minister said he had repeatedly drawn the government’s attention to reviewing water management in Punjab along with related initiatives such as rainwater harvesting and crop diversification. He said the group would offer suggestions, including avenues for resource mobilisation to implement policy initiatives. The government would need to find a solution to this critical problem in the border state of Punjab, the country’s food bowl. The minister said he had also constituted a team to hold a field study in Fatehgarh Churian and Dinanagar in Gurdaspur to identify projects for social and physical infrastructure in border areas. The team was expected to start work this month, in consultation with the local administration and people’s representatives, the minister added.
Problem Areas
11-member group
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Amarinder claims party morale high
Amritsar, June 5 Addressing mediapersons before kicking off his campaign for the party candidates, Amarinder said the party received over 1,300 applications for the party ticket from 250 wards of the four municipal corporations. He said the Congress leadership was fully supporting the party candidates. The former Chief Minister minced no words while warning the rebels in the poll fray. "I will ensure that they are expelled from the party for six years". He alleged that the party candidates who had withdrawn in favour of the ruling alliance did it under coercion and pressure. "The Akalis and the BJP have been forcing Congress candidates to withdraw," he said, adding that "they have succeeded only at a few places although they had attempted it everywhere". The PCC chief's rallies seemed to be poorly organised. In the morning, Amarinder opted not to address the first public meeting organised at a resort on the Attari road. He went to the venue, but left without addressing the gathering although he shook hands with the party workers present there. In the evening, he could barely manage to address a meeting on the Batala road for just a few moments as there was considerable chaos at the venue.
Leaders not backing us: Candidates A section of Congress candidates complained to Capt Amarinder that they were not receiving support from the local Congress leadership. "They only accompanied us while filing nomination papers. They haven't come out in our support during the campaign and we are left to manage it on our own," the candidates said.
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We will raise issue of ‘buying’ candidates in assembly: Sekhri
Jalandhar, June 5 Punjab Congress vice-president Ashwani Sekhri said during his visit here today that a reply would be sought from the Badal government on this “serious” issue. Batala MLA and Punjab Congress observer for the Jalandhar MC poll, Sekhri, alleged that SAD-BJP leaders had tried to lure Congress candidate (Ward No 38) Sakait Goraya Shetty by offering him Rs 25 lakh, but in vain. Sitting BJP councillor Ravi Mohindru is pitted against Shetty in this ward. Giving another example, former minister Avtar Henry said: “A local Akali leader tried to lure Congress candidate from Ward No 39 Manjinder Kaur, asking her to withdraw from the contest in lieu of a huge sum. As Manjinder and her husband did not succumb to the allurement, an FIR has been lodged against them under Section 307 IPC (attempt to murder).” Henry alleged that the papers of a Congress candidate from Ward No 21, Anita Seth, were rejected without any valid reason. He said the Congress would file an election petition in this regard. The SAD-BJP alliance had earlier persuaded the Congress candidate from Ward No 45, Gulshan Kumar, to withdraw from the contest in support of Senior Deputy Mayor Kamaljit Singh Bhatia, who won unopposed from the ward. Sekhri and Henry said the Congress had brought these incidents to the notice of the State Election Commission.
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No increase in MBBS seats in 37 years
Faridkot, June 5 In two neighbouring states of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh the situation is different. In Haryana, there were only 100 seats in Government Medical College at Rohtak in 1975 and it was the only government-owned medical college in the state at that time. But presently, there are two government medical colleges with 300 seats. Similarly in HP, a new medical college has been established at Tanda and seats have been increased in Shimla Medical College from 65 to 100. Even in the new medical college at Tanda, seats have been increased from 50 to100. In Punjab, earlier there were 360 seats (150 each in Government Medical College at Patiala and Amritsar and 60 seats in government medical college at Faridkot). But instead of making any increase, there was a reduction of 10 seats in Faridkot medical college. On the other hand, in private medical colleges in Punjab, two colleges made an increase of 75 seats in the last one-year. The Government Medical College in Faridkot had sent a proposal to the Medical Council of India in April this year to increase the number of seats from 50 to 100 from the next academic session but the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), Faridkot, the regulator and controller of this college, is not too keen to focus on this increase of seats. “Instead of increasing seats at the graduation level (MBBS), the BFUHS is more interested in post-graduation and super speciality (MD and DM) courses in medical education,” said Dr SS Gill, Vice Chancellor of the university. “We have already made a difference in the last two years. In 2010, there were only nine seats in four PG courses in the Faridkot medical college. But presently, we are providing 16 PG courses and the number of seats has been increased from nine to 36,” said the VC. “We have started a neuro-surgery department and are hopeful of starting super-speciality courses in neuro-surgery in the coming months,” he said. “In AIIMS, there are only 50 seats since 1956 and there is no graduation-level medical course in PGI,” said the VC.
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139 gastro cases reported in Ghanaur, two dead
Patiala, June 5 The deceased include 40-year-old Nachattar Kaur, wife of Raj Kumar, from Ward No. 7 and her 16-year-old son Devinder Kumar. The health authorities said there were no lapses on their part as both the victims got their treatment from a private doctor and did not come to the Civil Hospital. But the sudden rise in the number of gastroenteritis cases certainly raises fingers on the tall claims of the Health and Family Welfare Department regarding provision of potable water and hygiene conditions in the area. Civil Surgeon Dr Virinder Singh Mohi said the supply of contaminated water was the main reason behind the spread of this disease. “There are three sources of water supply in the town. Half of the area gets its water supply from the Public Health and Sanitation Department. Then there is the Sewerage and Water Supply Department. A few of the residents have their own submersible pumps and don’t get water supply from the other two sources. There is no problem at the houses of persons who have submersible pumps,” he said “In Ward No. 7, 9 and 10, there are a few slum areas and people there are using plastic pipes to draw water from water sources, which is illegal. There are lots of hygiene problems in these areas as water stagnates around their houses and this water has led to gastroenteritis,” he added. On the steps taken by the health department to tackle the problem, Dr Mohi said he had already formed teams of health officials to confirm cases of gastroenteritis by visiting each and every house. “They are also distributing ORS packets and organising awareness camps for people,” he said. He stated that they had collected 10 samples of water and sent the same to the State Laboratory at Chandigarh for testing. “We have taken 10 blood and eight stool samples which have been sent to the Microbiology Department of the Government Medical College, Patiala, for testing.” A joint meeting of the water, sanitation and sewerage board had been called yesterday and they took stock of the situation, he said. Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur visited Civil Hospital, Ghanaur, to meet the patients and took stock of the situation.
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Special teams for sensitive booths
Patiala, June 5 To ensure peaceful polling, the police will depute officers from other subdivisions of the rank of sub-inspector and above at the city polling stations. These officers would work directly under the SSP. “This will ensure that there is no political interference”, said a police officer. Sources said Patiala SSP Gurpreet Singh Gill held a closed- door meeting where it was decided to depute SHO-level officers from other subdivisions on election duty. “This would mean the new batch of officers will form the inner cordon and ensure that polling is free and fair”, the sources said. Meanwhile, Congress candidate from Ward No 31 Harbir Singh Sekhon has pulled out from the contest, alleging he was being “pressurised” by the police. Sekhon is a distant relative of a senior Congress leader. “Sekhon was told to withdraw and join the Shriomani Akali Dal or face the music," his confidant said. But the Patiala SSP denied the allegation. “A complaint against Sekhon is pending with us but we have not put any pressure on him,” he said.
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Another battalion for disaster management
Chandigarh, June 5 NDMA vice chairman M Shashidhar Reddy, who led a high-powered delegation regarding multi-state earthquake preparedness campaign, assured the Chief Minister of another battalion in a meeting here today. Reddy informed the Chief Minister that the basic objective of the NDMA was to understand the implication of a possible major earthquake and its likely impact on several states on preparedness, response and coordination. He pointed out that states of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and the Union Territory of Chandigarh fall close to the prominent fault lines making these states highly vulnerable to this hazard. The NDMA vice chairman said region specific scenario would also be developed in consultation with the state departments apart from involving key officers from the administration in all the states. Regular mock drills would be undertaken to make this campaign result-oriented, a part of earthquake preparedness campaign. The Chief Minister approved a proposal to designate nodal officers in various departments of the state government for implementation of NDMA’s awareness programme.
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Cut taxes on petrol or face stir: Congress
Jalandhar, June 5 Punjab imposes 27.5 per cent VAT, a 10 per cent surcharge on VAT, which is 2.75 per cent of the total cost of petrol, and Re 1 per litre as cess. With these taxes, petrol in Punjab is sold at almost Rs 22 per litre. Demanding that the VAT on petrol be brought on a par with neighbouring states, Congress leader Jagbir Brar said: “The Prakash Singh Badal-led government is putting an extra burden on Punjabis.” Batala legislator and Congress vice-president Ashwani Sekhri, ridiculed the “Bharat Bandh” organised by the BJP and its allies on May 31 to protest against the petrol rate hike by the Union Government. The Congress leaders said the SAD-BJP government should first slash the high VAT on petrol in Punjab.
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Dal Khalsa releases ‘Directory of Martyrs’ Amritsar: Radical Sikh outfit Dal Khalsa has come out with the third edition of the “Directory of Martyrs” featuring those who “laid down their lives defending the Akal Takht” during Operation Bluestar in June, 1984. The directory, which includes the profiles of 220 “martyrs”, was released in the presence of their family members on the eve of the 28th anniversary of the military operation. Damdami Taksal chief Baba Harnam Singh Khalsa and representatives of various radical groups presented copies of the “directory” to Ishar Singh and Tarlochan Singh, sons of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and Bhai Amrik Singh, respectively. — TNS
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Dog bite case: Central team to visit
Raikot
Ludhiana, June 5 Confirming this, Dr Deepak
Bhatia, state nodal officer for the Integrated Disease Surveillance Project, Punjab, said, “After a query from the International Health Regulation Authority, UK, joint director,
NCDC, Dr Udayvir Rana will visit Raikot tomorrow with his team for epidemiological study of a dog bite case.” On April 1, a dog bit an NRI who was on a visit to Raikot in Ludhiana district. On April 4, when he went back to England, he allegedly was detected to be suffering from rabies. Following this, the International Health Regulation Authority contacted the
NCDC. When asked if any NRI got treatment for a dog bite at the Raikot Civil Hospital, SMO Dr Moninder Singh said, “We can check our records only if someone tells us the name of the
NRI.”
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22 judicial officers promoted in Punjab
Ludhiana, June 5 Sanjay Kumar Sachdeva, Civil Judge (Senior Division), has been transferred to Sangrur, on promotion CJM Mansa Budh Ram Garg has been transferred to Hoshiarpur. Whereas ADJ Hari Singh Garewal has been transferred to Ludhiana. Seven Additional Civil Judges (Senior Division), who have been promoted to the rank of Chief Judicial Magistrate, include Harish Anand (Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar), Ashok Kapoor (Mansa), Karamjit Singh Sullar (Rupnagar), Ranjeet Kaur (Amritsar), Rakesh Kumar (Faridkot), Jaspinder Singh (Fatehgarh Sahib) and Rajeev K Beri (Moga). Whereas Civil Judge (Senior Division), Jalandhar, Sanjiv Joshi has been transferred to Mansa, Shivinder Singh, CJ (Senior Divison), transferred to Barnala, Rupnagar’s CJM Mandeep Kaur transferred to Jalandhar. Four judges, who have been promoted as Fast Track Court Judges, include Rajiv Malhotra, Harjinder Pal Singh, Baljinder Sidhu and Gurmail Singh.
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The Planning Commission has set up a high-level expert group under its member Mihar Shah to study the problem of water-logging in Punjab and suggest remedial measures. Minister of State for Planning, Ashwani Kumar said today that the group had been set up since the 12th Plan envisaged to bring about 20 per cent efficiency in the use of water in the country over the next five years.
Amritsar, June 5
