Absence of hose pipes make Civil Hospital ill-equipped to tackle fire incidents. File photo

Fire hoses and water pipes installed at most of the corridors in the hospital have outlived their age. Hoses and pipes from few other places are found to be missing. Though the hospital has installed few fire extinguishers at its emergency ward and few other places, most of the staff don’t know how to use them.

Fire-fighting infrastructure in a dilapidated state at Town Hall fire station in Amritsar. A File photo

The situation is no better at the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial Civil Hospital where sand buckets were seen empty. Even the water pipes are either missing or worn out. The hospital does have few fire extinguishers at few places, but glasses of the fire alarms are already broken.

There are just three mini cylinders to in the office of the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) here and three cylinders are kept in the store. However, giving scant regards to the norms, a heater is also placed in the store and is used to prepare tea thrice a day. As per the PSEB norms, all schools whether government or affiliated have to submit fire safety certificates to the board once a year. Sources in the Education Department said majority of the schools do paper work and the board hardly takes pains to do physical verification of safety the buildings.

At Municipal Corporation office, there is no fire extinguisher installed. MC Commissioner Dharam Pal Gupta said there is no need to install the fire extinguishers as fire brigade office is situated in the office premises which remain active 24X7. Various police stations in the city were also found to be ill-equipped to fight fire as there are no fire safety arrangements in majority of police stations. The offices of senior police authorities are no exception.

Fire officer Tarlochan Singh said it is necessary that all government departments should have fire safety arrangements. They should be operational and the staff should be properly trained to handle such equipments. But unfortunately this is lacking in majority of the departments, he added.

Worn-out infrastructure

• The Guru Nanak Dev Hospital of the Government Medical College seems ill-equipped to handle any emergency as most of the fire-extinguishing equipments have worn out. Fire hoses and water pipes installed at most of the corridors in the hospital have outlived their age
• The situation is no better at the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial Civil Hospital where sand buckets were seen empty. Even the water pipes are either missing or worn out

The place has installed fire extinguishers at each floor, a jet fire extinguishing system for stage and the auditorium, connected to water reservoir that has a capacity to store 30,000 litres with a high pressure pump for better reach ability. Virsa Vihar too has maintained its fire-fighting systems, with extinguishers installed inside the theatre as well as the practice rooms. “We also have trained staff stationed at the exit points during major events and festivals. Two water tanks with a capacity of 5,000 litres each are kept ready for emergencies,” says Kewal Dhaliwal. Thakar Singh Art Gallery also has its fire-fighting system in place with adequate number of extinguishers installed at the place.

Amritsar, June 24
The Rs 25.50 lakh robbery incident near Company Bagh turned out to be stage managed. The plan was executed by the driver, identified as Gurjeet Singh, of the tobacco company to usurp the money of his employer.

The police has nabbed Gurjeet Singh on the complaint of Prem Mishra, the marketing manager of Delhi-based Shambhu Khaini Private Limited. The police has also recovered the whole amount, which he had hidden under earth near his in-laws' house at Tarn Taran.

Mishra, who used to collect the payments on behalf of the company from various areas of Punjab, in his complaint to police said his driver had gone missing while he was bringing Rs 25.50 lakh from a money exchanger located near the Landa Bazaar area opposite the Amritsar railway station.

He said he asked Gurjeet to collect Rs 25.50 lakh from the money exchanger and hand him over the money near Hall Gate where he was waiting for him. He said till 4.00 pm he waited for him, but he did not turn up and his mobile phone was found switched off. He also informed about the incident to his clients in Batala.

He said he received a call from Batala that Gurjeet had arrived in the town. Gurjeet told that he was robbed by unidentified persons near the Company Bagh when he was going to Hall Gate after hiring a three-wheeler. He told them that the accused who was also sitting in the auto hit him with a baseball bat and later drugged him. He said they threw him near Lamsdon club after snatching the bag. He said he some how reached near Batala bypass.

"During investigations, the police team headed by AS Pawar, ADCP City-II, got suspicious as he was changing his statements before the police officials. Moreover, the police teams found that no such incident had occurred near Company Bagh," said Police Commissioner RP Mittal.

"During interrogation, he admitted to his crime that it was all stage-managed," said Pawar. The police recovered all the money which was hidden under earth in a tubewell room at his in-laws' house in Tarn Taran, he added.

Amritsar, June 24
Less than two per cent of the area in the holy city is under green cover. This news has come as a rude shock to the environmentalists and concerned citizens who have been crusading to increase green cover in the city. There are as many as 375 parks spread over about 385 acres of land in 65 wards of the city. Most of these parks are in posh colonies.

“Where and how did we miss on the green cover is an intriguing question and that too after organising several green campaign in the city from time to time,” said the Executive Director of Mission Agaaz Deepak Babbar.

He said though the city ranked number one in the country to have developed green area under it but a lot needs to be done. Experts believe that a high number of unplanned localities have sprung up in the past two decades in different parts of the city. Majority of them are without any green cover or a park. These colonies came up on the agriculture and orchard land.

As per the Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA), over 400 illegal colonies are spread in the city and a majority of them fall within the municipal limits.

Government agencies, including the Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT) and PUDA, have failed to set up an adequate number of approved colonies to cater to the needs of urbanisation and increasing population.

Babbar said as per the national policy framed by the Ministry of Forest and Environment, green cover is to be increased gradually in each city. First target is to realise 15 per cent green cover and then 33 per cent to avoid global warming.

He said at present, 54 per cent area of the city is residential, which is to be reduced to 49 per cent. Green cover in Industrial area is to be increased from five per cent to 11 per cent, he added.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s favourite project the Amritsar Development Authority (ADA) envisaged planned growth of the city under the master plan. However, Babbar felt that advantages of the move were frittered away with the regularisation of illegal colonies.

He felt that these colonies do not have adequate open space that could be turn into green cover. If any space is available then it is costly and in small sizes. He said these illegal colonies upset the topography of the city.

He pointed that the government should allow only approved residential colonies to develop in and around the city and these are require to leave nearly 50 to 60 per cent of the area open to sky which includes, 30 per cent for roads, five per cent for greenery, schools, water tanks etc.

He said this leaves only 50 per cent land for raising structures. On the other hand, unauthorised developers sell the entire portion of the land without fulfilling the norms and bear no expenses.

Amritsar, June 24
The State Special Operation Cell has nabbed five persons for allegedly possessing 5 kg of opium. They were caught from the New Amritsar area following a tip-off. Those arrested were identified as Kalu Ram, Sudhir Kumar of Chitorgarh (Rajasthan), Bansi of Bhilwara (Rajasthan), Babal Sudhar and Madan Lal of Nemach, Madhya Pradesh.

A case under Sections 18, 25, 29, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered. The SSOC authorities revealed that the accused were driving down in a vehicle (RJ-06-UA-5132) to deliver the consignment to the party.

Sources said the accused used to sell the contraband in the grain markets on retail basis. “With paddy sowing season on, the sale of opium, which is consumed by labourers, rises manifolds,” he said. The flow of opium and poppy husk from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh also increases.

Due to strict checking by the police, drug peddlers are finding new ways to smuggle the contraband into Punjab. They are now brining the same in small quantities, he added.

He said the seizure was made following a tip-off provided by the counter intelligence authorities at Ferozepur. “The accused had paid five visits to the city,” he said.

He said investigations are being conducted on different lines to unearth the complete nexus and network of this gang.

Amritsar, June 24
Food, like music, has no language or boundaries. We love our Butter chicken and stuffed parathas, but don’t mind overlooking them once in a while for Sushi, Thai curry, Tacos and Lasagna. The recipes which were probably unknown to Amritsar a few years ago are being served at homes here, thanks to the growing popularity of world cuisine.

International cuisine has become the latest fad in the kitchens for Amritsaris and so is taking up cooking classes. Whether it’s starters, main course or desserts, Amritsaris don’t mind starting from the scratch.

“International cuisine is the latest flavour for the city,” says Parvez Arora, who along with his wife is one of the known names of the food business in the city. His wife, Aviruchi, teaches international cuisines at their residence. “Ninety per cent of our students want to learn global cuisines, which includes Lebanese, Chinese, Italian, Mexican and Thai,” she says. The reason for the growing popularity of these recipes, as Parvez says, is, “They are calorie specific. The young Indians are well-travelled and calorie conscious. Some of these cuisines offer them a healthy replacement for the usual Aloo-puri and Butter chicken.” The classes have a professional atmosphere, with a schedule in place and the students eager to learn. “We have students as young as 17 and as old as 55. Most of the recipes are well-known and are quite popular with foodies. Housewives, young mothers, professionals and even guys come to learn cooking. Desserts are popular as everybody wants to learn how to make a perfect chocolate mud cake, apple pie and soufflé,” says Aviruchi Arora, who takes the classes and specialises in fondant and marzipan icing for cakes.

Another cooking expert who is also busy teaching these days is Jyoti ‘Masterchef’ Arora. The chef, who proved her prowess on national television, is busy turning amateur cooks into their own versions of master chef. Surprisingly, her kitchen has no room for Punjabi cuisine, “I don’t do Punjabi food. But I do a lot of Mexican, Middle Eastern, French and Thai cuisine,” she specifies. ‘Why?’ we asked. “Because my students don’t want to learn something they have been eating their whole life. There is a sudden growing awareness about international cuisines and people want to bring those flavours home,” she says. Her classes and workshops are packed with students. “My professional classes are only for those who want to make a career out of cooking and are more educational rather than leisure cooking, while workshops are like learning camps where I take up one recipe at a time.” From recognition of foods to cooking up exotic curries and gravies, dips and desserts, Jyoti has her hands full.

Health might be an attraction for some, but others want to learn out of sheer excitement. “My husband travels abroad a lot and loves salads and Thai food. I joined these classes to learn new recipes for him,” says Meera Kapoor, a housewife from Kennedy Avenue. She now vouches to rustle up a fine Ceasar Salad, Thai curry and banoffee pie.

Amritsar, June 24
People turned up in huge number on the second day of passport mela organised at the local Passport Seva Kendra today. Regional Passport Officer JS Sodhi said around 450 applicants’ problems were addressed during the second day. On the first day of the mela, however, only a few could avail the facility due to lack of prior information.

Sodhi said, “The response of the day was very encouraging. We hope that the exercise would help ease the workload in the coming days.” He also said that due to the heavy rush, the passport office had to take help of the police to manage the affairs.

Earlier, the Ministry of External Affairs had announced to organise two-day passport melas at seven centres across the country to address problems related to passport.

Sodhi said as applicants complain about the difficulty in getting personal appointments, the ministry had asked the applicants to visit the centre without an appointment on the prescribed two days.

He said some applicants were also given walk-in interview slips in view of the heavy rush so that they can use these slips in the coming days.

Amritsar, June 24
The city police nabbed four vehicle-lifters in two separate incidents. The D-Division police nabbed Balkar Singh and Priyaraj of New Gurnam Nagar, Sultanwind Road and Sahib Singh of Tur village, Goindwal Sahib and recovered a stolen car bearing number MH-04-BD-9516 from their possession.

The police authorities revealed that the accused had formed a gang which was involved in vehicle-lifting and used to sell the cars after forging documents. The car which was recovered from the accused was stolen from Pune. A case under Sections 379 and 411 of the IPC has been registered against them.

Meanwhile, in another incident the police arrested one Nachhatar Singh of Azad Nagar and recovered three motorcycles and 130 grams of narcotic powder from his possession.

The police officials said the accused was a drug addict and used to lift vehicles from outside Gurudwara Shaheed Baba Deep Singh and Hanuman Temple located on 100-foot road.

Major problem is of non-existence of sewerage. Ground water in Sultanwind and surrounding areas are polluted as the village pond has turned into a gunda nullah due to deposition of waste water here. Besides, the residents are not getting proper supply of potable water. I will raise the matter in the house and will try to solve them as soon as possible