|
|
|
|
Two chemist shops lose licences, 25 receive notices
Money towers over health
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Long wait for patients as docs go on strike
Amritsar, June 25 On a call given by the Indian Medical Association, doctors at private hospitals today struck work from 9 am to 5 pm. They were protesting against the Clinical Establishment Bill and the National Council for Human resources in Health (NCHRH) Bill-2011 being implemented by the Centre.
Revamping water supply system need of the hour
City loses noted surgeon
Power crisis: No respite in sight Councillors to address sewage woes on priority
|
|
Two chemist shops lose licences, 25 receive notices
Amritsar, June 25 Deputy Medical Commissioner-cum-Civil Surgeon, Dr HS Ghai, gave this information today during a meeting headed by Deputy Commissioner, Rajat Aggarwal. Dr Ghai said licence of two illegal medical stores have been cancelled while necessary action is being taken against eight other such defaulting medical stores. Rajat Aggarwal directed the health department to take strict action against the chemist shop owners who were allegedly selling habit forming and intoxicant drugs. He said the action should also be initiated against quacks to stem the problem of drug abuse in the holy city. He said easy access to habit-forming drugs especially in the rural areas is destroying the younger generation. He also asked the health department to send a report regarding action being taken against such medical stores to his office. He also asked them to videograph the raids and ensure the presence of the representatives of some NGO during the raids. Deputy Police Commissioner SP Joshi said the police department would be leave no stone unturned to end the menace of drug addiction. He said all possible steps would be taken against the accused involved in the drug trade. He said the police department is ready to help the health department in every way.
|
|
Money towers over health
Amritsar, June 25 All it takes to rent out the rooftops is to deposit the requisite installation charges of Rs 10,000 along with an application. A resident, PC Sharma, said Himachal Pradesh government has already prohibited the installation of these towers within a radius of 100 metres from any residential building, school and hospital. However, the Punjab government is yet to wake up to take stock of the situation slipping out of control. Another resident, Sunil Arora, said the Punjab and Haryana High Court, in response to petitions seeking the removal of mobile towers from Chandigarh’s residential areas, stated that the mobile companies would have to publicly display the amount of radiation a tower emits and its harmful effects thereof on the health of people. He said similar efforts were needed to be implemented here. Dr AL Adlakha says mobile towers emit signals in the form of radio waves, which can result in changes to the brain cells. If the DNA in the brain cells gets damaged, they may become cancerous and cause brain tumours. It is also feared that radio waves can alter chemical and electrical reactions in our brain, changing, in effect, the way the brain cells communicate. Studies conducted reveal that sparrows have declined in the most contaminated electromagnetic fields, he added.Gurbhej Singh of Mission Agaaz, an environment awareness group rued that very little was being done to protect the existing population of sparrows. He said modern constructions do not leave out any space for birds. He said, “Fast urbanisation leaves very little space for birds and there is not enough food as a result Sparrows, which feed on insects and help reduce the use of pesticides are vanishing,” he said. Greenery has become a rarity in urban areas, forcing birds to struggle for food. He claimed that many studies in the developed countries indicate that radiation from mobile phone towers were one of the major reasons for dwindling sparrow population.
|
|
Long wait for patients as docs go on strike
Amritsar, June 25
The doctors under the banner of Indian Medical Association also submitted a memorandum to the district administration demanding a nation-wide discussion over the issues and that freeze the bills. Terming the two bills against the medical profession, they also expressed anguish for the discriminatory treatment being meted out to the pious profession. The doctors demanded that the state Assembly should not pass the Clinical Establishment Bill. They urged the representatives of various political parties to oppose the NCHRH Bill besides restoring the democratic setup of the Medical Council of India by reconstituting its elected body. “As per NCHRH, a commission, committee and council formed would execute the orders given by the Central government while no provision for any representation from the medical organisations, like the Indian Medical Association or health universities has been made. This will not provide a fair assessment of the medical education or health care delivery,” said Dr Rajinder Singh president district unit of the IMA. The Clinical Establishment Bill, introduced to regulate private hospitals and clinics, has a number of flaws. It has made it mandatory that all hospitals and clinics should get themselves registered with the appropriate authority before they open. Following the strike, the patients had to wait for long hours in the hospital. Long queues were witnessed at various private hospitals. “I have come along with my family from Tarn Taran for a check up in a private hospital. I have been waiting for a long time but the doctors have not arrived yet. I have been told that the doctors are on strike and would meet a few hours later,” said Taranjit Singh, a resident of Tarn Taran who had come to a private hospital on the Majitha road. Swarn Singh, a resident of Beas, who came here for the treatment of bone injury said he arrived in a city hospital in the morning, but even after four hours of waiting, no doctors were available.
|
|
Drugs worth Rs 5 lakh seized
Amritsar, June 25 The six teams formed by the department conducted simultaneous raids at six medicine stores. A shop owner escaped when he was called by the raiding party. Following this, his shop Himalya Trading Company was sealed by the department. Owing to shortage of staff, drug inspectors from Jalandhar and Gurdaspur were called in for the raids. The shops raided, include Madhav Medicine store, Himalya Trading Company, Megha Enterprises, Sahni and Sahni Enterprises, Chopra Enterprises and Pankaj Medicos. According to the health department officials, maximum amount of medicines were seized from Sahni and Sahni Enterprises, followed by Madhav Medicines. The raiding team seized drugs worth Rs 2.60 lakh and Rs 1.25 lakh from the two stores, respectively. The owners of the shops could not produce the mandatory records. The team also seized habit-forming drugs worth Rs 47,000 from Megha Enterprises. It also seized intoxicants worth Rs 60,000 from outside the shop but no one came forward to claim the medicine stock. The raiding party could not complete the raid at Pankaj Medicos, as the owner of the shop fell unconscious during the raid and he had to be taken to the hospital. Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal said to bring complete transparency during the raids, videographers and members of various NGOs and police officers accompanied the teams. The raiding parties were detailed about their destinations just before the raids. To avoid any outside pressure, mobile phones of the drugs inspectors were also switched off. He said the teams had seized 1.58 lakh capsules and 2.63 lakh tablets from five shops. He said action has been initiated against the owners. "If needed we would also register cases against them," said Aggarwal.
|
|
Revamping water supply system need of the hour
Amritsar, June 25 The water supply network has been spread in an area of 1,022 km. Ironically, water supply network doesn't reach 3.5 lakh residents out of 12-lakh population in the city. Inadequate water supply The water supply network still could not reach around 25 per cent houses here. Even, 8.5 lakh residents, who have piped water supply in their houses, too get 50 litres below the national recommendation scale, which recommends an average of 150 litres of water daily to a citizen. In Amritsar, it comes to about 100 litres. The system of distribution and maintenance is old and poorly managed. Hand pumps, stand posts and wells help fulfil the need of water in slum areas and localities not covered by the water supply network. Prevailing scenario Nevertheless, the system of water supply here is entirely based on groundwater, which is drawn through tubewells and supplied to residents through a system of overhead reservoirs. According to Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board, there are 350 tubewells in Amritsar that supply 180 million litres of water. Due to inefficient supply line, around 80 million litres of water get waste. Quality of water It is irony that in the absence of any scientific system to treat or check the quality of water, residents of many areas are compelled to drink 'contaminated' water. In most of the localities, the water supply gets mixed with the sewage because of breakages in sewerage and water supply pipes. As far as treatment is concerned, the water is treated through a system of chlorination or bleaching powder, which is added at the level of water extraction. The MC had begun a process in this regard by engage private firms to check water quality and testing in 2010. Three firms had come forward to do the task for Rs 10 lakh, but the proposal was scrapped due to official rigmarole. Till date, the proposal is gathering dust in the files. However, officials said the bacteriological test is carried out occasionally to determine the level of bacterial contamination. And bleaching powder is used for the disinfection of water. But importantly this practice is also not carried out in accordance to BIS, 1991(clause 3.1)} (ISI-10500). The water testing lab set up at a cost Rs 25 lakh is a mere structure. Depleting groundwater About 10 years ago, the groundwater level varied between 45 and 55 feet. It currently rolls between 60 and 80 feet deep. Officials said the groundwater level on an average is declining by 1 foot with passing year. Over a period of time, numbers of tubewells have been installed to extract groundwater and meet the increased needs of its residents. At present, there are 310 tubewells in the city. The wastage of water is rampant here. The indifferent approach of the Municipal Corporation has further aggravated the wastage at public places. One of its examples is a toilet outside Sadar Thana, where a pipe is lying broken, and water continues to seep through it all through the day. It has not been repaired despite our several reminders to the MC authorities and Punjab Water Supply & Sewerage Board. The wastage is also noticed in TB Hospital and Civil Hospital.
|
|
Amritsar, June 25 A keen Rotarian, past master free mason and was member of the Surgeons Society of India. He is survived by two sons and a daughter. — TNS
|
|
Power crisis: No respite in sight
Amritsar, June 25 The demand for power has shot up by over 5 per cent within a span of just 20 days in Amritsar, whereas there is no spurt in power generation. “The demand has increased by about 30 lakh units more than the normal consumption in the past three weeks. The situation has worsened due to dry weather conditions which hamper power generation,” he said. What makes residents’ lives miserable is that the local power head office do not announce their schedule for power cuts in advance. The electricity department officials blamed dry weather conditions, low power generation and non-completion of second phase of Lehra Mohabbat thermal plant of 500 mw for the power woes. Consequently, the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited had been forced to impose power cuts ranging between 6 to 10 hours in rural and urban areas. Kiranjeet Kaur of New Amritsar resented that unscheduled power cuts have been affecting the studies of students. A fan manufacturer Rattandeep Singh said, “We are already suffering on account of rupee depreciation and spiraling steel prices. Now the power shortage has added to our woes.”
|
|
Councillors to address sewage woes on priority Ward 9 Name: Neetu Mahajan
The foremost item on my agenda will be to revamp the sewerage system in the Basant Avenue area. Residents living behind Janta Public School continue to suffer due to the faulty sewerage system. The second priority will be to organise a pension camp in my ward. During my door-to-door campaign, I had come across scores of senior citizens and widows who were waiting to get their dues. I am planning to open my office on the Majitha road Ward 28 Name: Raj Kumar Party: CPI
Ward 32 Name: Ranjit Kaur
There is shortage of drinking water in my ward. Even though there are two tubewells, I will make efforts to install another one in the ward. There are two areas --- Deep Enclave and Sant Vihar --- where sewerage has to be revamped. The tenders for the same have already been called. Actually, our area remained neglected for long. Even as this area has been with the SAD, development suffered during the Congress regimes~
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Party: Independent 
Three issues --- sewerage, drinking water and garbage --- need immediate attention in my ward. Due to faulty planning and lack of maintenance, there exists the sewage problem. During rainy season, the dirty water enters the houses. The drinking water also gets contaminated because of this. We have just two tubewells in the ward, which are inadequate to meet the demand of drinking water. Another major issue is that garbage, which remain piled up near jaura phatak, is not lifted regularly by the company engaged by the corporation~
Party: SAD