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diarrhoea typhoid
MC fails to provide quality water to own staff |
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Seasonal diseases
13 villagers injured in group clash
New chapter begins for migrant labourers’ children
A teacher interacts with children who will be studying at the newly opened NCLP school at Mithapur in Jalandhar on Friday. Photo: Sarabjit Singh
Ultrasound centre raid
Despite appeal, use of ACs in full swing
Sports Department conducts trials
Control room at BMC Chowk soon for better traffic regulation
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Four new cases in Ward 42
Aparna Banerji Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, July 5 Four new cases of diarrhoea and typhoid surfaced in the Rajan Nagar area, situated right next to Basti Peerdad here today. While five new cases were detected in the Rajan Nagar area on Tuesday, with the four new cases today, the total number of patients being reported at ward no. 42 has risen to 31 in the ward so far. The reason for the bad health of all these patients have been water-borne diseases. Ironically, while the situation at Basti Peerdad is now easing, the Rajan Nagar locality is the new cause of worry among residents and health teams alike. A resident of the Rajan Nagar locality said, “The pipes and sewers in the Rajan Nagar and New Rajan Nagar localities are blocked and the residents are forced to drink dirty water. It has not even rained yet and we shudder to think what might happen if it rains.” Residents say the main reason of the clogging of drains is the fact that the Rajan Nagar drainage pipes are not attached to the main MC sewer, due to which the dirty water of the area cannot escape outside and accumulates in the streets, raising a stench and polluting the drinking water. The fact that Rajan and New Rajan Nagar, which extend up to the ganda nullah in the area, are both unapproved colonies, doesn’t help matter either. The MC teams, however, have started work on the clogged sewers of both these areas. Talking to The Tribune, Additional Commissioner, MC, Paramjit Singh Jaggi, said, “The work is in progress in Basti Peerdad and adjoining areas and we are moving on to new areas now. Work on the drainage system of Rajan Nagar is currently on and once this is done we will move on to other areas.” Health teams today surveyed 85 houses in the Basti Peerdad and Rajan Nagar areas. A total of 540 people in the area were checked. As many as 1,000 chlorine tablets were distributed. Even as residents claim the outbreak had spread to newer areas, health teams claimed they did not find any new cases today. Reason of outbreak
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MC fails to provide quality water to own staff
Jalandhar, July 5
The kind of dereliction reflects badly on the MC, and that too at a time when the water-borne diseases are spreading fast, including jaundice and typhoid. Owing to the fact that lids of none of the tanks have been kept locked, there remains a high risk of contamination, mixing by means of foul play. Since the demand of drinking water is quite high these days, water is not only filled through direct supply, but is also taken through tanks. For the same reason, the fact that the tanks are not properly covered has raised serious concerns. Many employees tell that for the same reason, they get water from home in thermostat flasks. The employees at the Suwidha Centre basement of the building say that while there are water coolers on all floors, there is no such provision for them and the visitors coming for the payment of bills. Lakhwinder Singh, XEN (O&M), MC, said covers might have gone off due to winds in the past few days. He said he regularly checked the tanks and ensured that they were properly cleaned. ?We also have RO systems installed to further purify the water,” he added.
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Civil Hospital grapples with huge inflow of patients
Situation grim in wards where beds have been laid in corridors to accommodate rush Aparna Banerji Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, July 5 Most of the patients were those with fever or diarrhoea, while some typhoid and two jaundice patients were also admitted in the wards. The situation was especially grim at the male and female medical wards in the hospital, where beds were laid in the corridors owing to the patient inflow and nurses grappling with the inflow in the wake of a staff shortage crisis. In all, nine beds were laid outside the wards (two of patients from the female medical ward and seven from the male medical ward). For both wards, there were just a total of one nursing sister, while four to five trainee nurses accompanied her. In the summer heat, patients lay outside and some (in one case some patients inconvenienced by a patient who was giving out bad smell) were asked to be shifted outside by other patients. Talking to The Tribune, a patient from Mahalpur, said, “The days are exceptionally hot and on top of it, some patients have to be laid outside. We had been getting drinking water from downstairs until yesterday, but thankfully now they have put a water cooler here.” The nurse on duty said, “The patient inflow is huge and mostly it is owing to summer-related diseases. There are a total of 28 beds in the male medical ward and seven have been put outside because they could not be accommodated inside.” On being asked why they hadn’t been shifted to other wards, nurses said, “We asked them and they preferred to stay outside.” The nurses had no sweepers, attendants or other class IV staff to help them out, as patients were even being shifted by attendants or relatives of fellow patients. Due to increased numbers, the state of hygiene also seemed appalling. Patients, meanwhile, said that nurses worked round the clock. MS Dr Iqbal Singh said, “The Civil Hospital has indeed been flooded with patients and due to the shortage of class IV staff. At places, it is difficult to cope with the flow. However, I have asked some patients in the corridors if they wanted to be shifted to some other ward but they preferred to stay in the corridors, saying it was more airy there.”
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13 villagers injured in group clash
Jalandhar, July 5 Sources in the police revealed that the villagers indulged in the scuffle over the construction work of village streets and drains. They later used sticks, batons and even hurled stones at each other, leaving over 13 injured. The injured have been identified as Satpal Singh, Amarjit, Bhagat Singh, Praveen Kumari, Ranjit Singh, Daljit Singh, Amarjit Singh, Baldev Singh, Manjinder Singh, HP Singh, Harjinder Kaur, Jaswinder Kaur and Manjit Kaur.Injured Satpal Singh, undergoing treatment at the local Civil Hospital, alleged that Amarjit Singh and his men had been disrupting the construction work being carried on in the village for some time. The incident occurred this morning when he objected to the disruptions, following which Amarjit Singh and his men attacked them. Amarjit Singh, however, denied the allegations, claiming that the work was being carried on by the nagar council and was not up to the mark. “We objected to faulty work, following which Satpal and his men attacked them,” he maintained. The Jalandhar (Rural) police has deployed policemen in the village to avoid any untoward incident after initiating investigations in the case registered at the Jamsher police station.
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New chapter begins for migrant labourers’ children
Jalandhar, July 5 Shiv has been earning around Rs 2000 from both houses and at an age when she should be growing with her peers in classrooms and grounds, she has ended up becoming an adept cook and household worker. Her desire of studying in a school was left mid-way due to acute poverty, as her father has been bed-ridden, while they have a family of five to feed. However, today she entered a new phase of life, as she joined National Child Labour Project School (NCLP), which was started by ‘Rotary Club of Jullundhur’ at Government Primary School, Mithapur village. The school was officially inaugurated this evening, while it started functioning from July 1 onwards. Shiv, along with 49 other students, all children of migrant labourers from Mithapur got a new lease of life, as they would get a golden chance of studying up to class V. The students were also distributed free bags and books on this occasion and they would also get free mid-day meal daily. Another such student was Ravi Kumar, who works as a domestic help in a sweetmeat shop and has been earning nothing out of it. “I have studied till class III, but due to family problems could not pursue my studies. But, now I would come daily, as I too want to learn how to read and write,” he added. Although, the initiative of opening this school was taken by the Rotary Club, which is already running 27 NCLP schools in the district, the project was kicked off with the timely intervention of Jalandhar Cantonment “We had approached the district administration to start the NCLP School, but the school authorities were reluctant to provide us necessary infrastructure and the teachers. We pursued the matter with Pargat Singh and it was after his intervention that the school authorities agreed,” said Neelam Sharma, one of the teachers associated with the project. Pargat Singh, along with his wife Barinderpreet Kaur, was the chief guest in today’s function during which Pargat promised every possible help to make the NCLP schools a success. Last month, the Rotary Club had conducted a survey to view the state of child labour in village Mithapur. “The village has a sizeable number of migrant labourers and 80 percent of their children are in the age group of 9 to 14. These children had been working as helpers in shops, houses at construction areas and were not studying anywhere. We are glad that 50 such poor children would be getting a chance to educate themselves,” said Nupur Sandhu, secretary of the club. Three teachers from the school would be teaching the students daily. “In this school, the students would be taught till class V and according to their performance and aptitude would also be motivated to pursue their studies after class V at other government schools,” said a teacher. Among others who made it to the event were Inderjeet Singh, project director of NCLP schools in the district, Gurdev Kaur Sangha, member of the Rotary club and many others. |
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Civil Surgeon, activist face pressure
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, July 5 While Saini was part of the health team that raided the centre, the team had caught the doctor at the said scanning centre conducting sex-determination tests. While the health department had issued a show-cause notice to the centre’s owner Dr Harjinder Kaur, it had also initiated legal proceedings against the centre, following which a legal notice was issued to the centre on Wednesday. In the wake of these proceedings, Saini claimed that he began receiving calls from some influential people on Wednesday, who pressurised him not to speak or make any move against the owners of the said centre. Civil Surgeon Dr RL Bassan also confirmed that he had received similar calls. Saini has written to the Jathedar of the Akal Takht on the matter, asking the Akal Takht to issue a Hukumnama against all such people who were promoting sex-determination and female infanticide. Talking to The Tribune Saini, who is the Punjab head for the NGO Child Line, said, “If sex determination and infanticide go on unbridled, Punjab will not be able to save its precious next generation.” Dr RL Bassan, speaking on the issue, said, “I have received some calls in this regard but the usual course of action will be pursued and the case proceedings will be unaffected by this.”
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Despite appeal, use of ACs in full swing
Jalandhar, July 5 Starting from the district administration to various government offices in the district, industries and domestic users, almost every part of the city was seen beating the heat with the help of ACs right from the morning hours. Hence, the city witnessed power cuts of around four hours today. The situation has been grim in the rural belts of the district too, as due to the ongoing paddy transplantation season and the regular usage of ACs, Powercom officials were forced to snap electricity for around five hours in the day in rural areas. Jalandhar Tribune conducted a random survey of different offices and other establishments and found that ACs were being used openly, despite the appeal of PSPCL to the consumers to cooperate till the arrival of monsoons. At District Administrative Complex (DAC), PUDA and the police commissionerate almost all the officials were seen sitting in their rooms with ACs on. Even the shops, showrooms and posh residential localities of the city were seen using ACs, completely unaware of the appeal of PSPCL. However, the Powercom authorities maintained that they were an exception in this case, as they were adhering to the directions of PSPCL of stop using ACs not only in their offices, but also their guest houses. Chief Engineer, North Zone, Powercom, SS Sarna said, “We had received these directions on Tuesday evening and since then we have not been using the ACs. The major problem of electricity shortage is due to the paddy season, for which we have to provide eight hours of free electricity in the villages. If the consumers cooperate with us and minimise the use of ACs, the situation would improve,” he added. Sarna added that consumers usually get ACs installed and don’t get their electricity load increased, which leads to overload on the transformers, hence the problem of power shortage. “It is an appeal to the consumers that whenever they install an AC, they must deposit the security and get the load increased. Further, the consumers should also abstain from electricity thefts and rather inform us so that we can plug such loopholes. And last but not the least, energy should be conserved. People waste electricity by keeping tubelights, ACs, coolers, fans and other electrical appliances on for hours,” he maintained. It is pertinent to mention here that in order to contain the demand and provide quality supply to all categories of consumers, PSPCL had made an appeal to all its industrial, commercial and domestic consumers to restrict the use of ACs or at least cut down its usage by 50 per cent till the arrival of monsoon, where after the situation would improve. PSPCL has also maintained that it was making all-out efforts to provide uninterrupted supply, but the present situation was only due to unprecedented conditions on account of delayed monsoon, under which any amount of arrangements would not have sufficed. Powercom appeal to consumers * Whenever install an AC, always deposit the security and get the load increased. * Abstain from electricity thefts and inform us so that such loopholes could be plugged. * Energy conservation is must. * Avoid wastage of electricity by keeping tubelights, ACs, coolers, fans and other electrical appliances on. * Instead of bulbs use CFLs. * Use ISI-mark electrical appliances, which consumes less power.
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Sports Department conducts trials
Jalandhar, July 5 The trials were held on July 4 for different sports disciplines, namely athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, football, gymnastics, handball, hockey, judo, kho-kho, kabaddi, swimming, table tennis, volleyball, weightlifting, wrestling and lawn tennis. As many as 620 girls and 1,020 boys from different colleges of the state had participated in the trials, a press note issued by the Sports Department read. |
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Control room at BMC Chowk soon for better traffic regulation
Jalandhar, July 5 To keep surveillance on every activity around the chowk and anti-social elements, the city police has decided to equip the traffic control room with eight CCTV cameras, besides a monitor. Talking to The Tribune, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Sarbjit Singh revealed that the CCTV cameras would be installed at the chowk in such a way that every activity on all roads, converging there, was clearly visible and could be recorded. Besides deployment of the traffic police personnel at the chowk, the control room would be guarded by a senior cop round-the-clock on rotation basis. The control room would be equipped with speed radars, breath analyzers and certain other tools. There would be a direct link of the traffic control room with the main police control room as well as with the office of the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP), Traffic. The work of setting up the control room and installing the CCTVs would be completed by next week, the DCP claimed. The city police had also identified over 45 points in and around the city where the CCTVs were to be installed. The project was being undertaken by the city police with the financial assistance from the Municipal Corporation. Sources in the police, however, informed that the CCTVs, that would be used at BMC Chowk, were removed from PAP Chowk almost an year ago. Some of them were installed by the then Assistance Commissioner of Police (ACP), Traffic, DS Dhillon, at his office, while the others were gathering dust there. To bring down the death rate in road accidents, the city police is already running a World Health Organisation-sponsored project “Road Safety-10” and has challaned thousands of motorists for offences like over-speeding and drunken driving. |
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Jalandhar, July 5
Jalandhar, July 5
Around 10-year-old Shiv Kumari’s day begins at 7 am, but not with the rush of going to school. It’s about reaching two houses to work as a domestic maid. She works in the houses, while her mother works in two other bungalows to make both ends meet.
Shiv has been earning around Rs 2000 from both houses and at an age when she should be growing with her peers in classrooms and
ground
Jalandhar, July 5
