Amritsar, July 9
If you miss streetlights on your way home and think that this simple facility can be lifesaver after sun down, a look at the backyard of City Centre will shock you. Clearly the Municipal Corporation does not think that the streetlights can be of any use in saving lives on the roads and has dumped expensive electronic lights and traffic signal light poles, some of them in immaculate condition, in the backyard of City Centre here.

In contrast a number of road intersections in different pockets of the city do not have traffic lights at all or the ones installed are defunct.

The value of the dumped lights goes in lakhs and can reused or installed at the roundabouts which do not have signal lights, but the AMC does not seem to care.

About two-and a half years ago, a high-beam pole installed at Novelty Chowk on the Lawrence Road, got damaged due to the wind. The same has not been re-installed or repaired so far. MC officials say, these 25-metre high mast lights cost Rs 7 lakh, but these can be seen lying at this dump yard.

The contract to maintain the traffic lights expired more than six months ago.

The MC does not have the manpower or technically-skilled staff to handle the non-functional traffic lights in the city. While it is not hesitant to spend lakhs to install decorative lights to beautify the holy city, the basic requirement of proper traffic lights seems to be the last on its list. The police says despite repeated reminders to get the traffic lights at prominent intersections repaired, the AMC authorities have turned a blind eye towards the problem.

In-charge, street lights, AMC, Manjeet Pal Singh Bedi, said a majority of the electricity poles lying in the dumpyard cannot be used again. “But these can be sold in scrap to generate funds for new lights. I will visit the dumpyard tomorrow. The ones which can be repaired will be reused," he said.

official speak
A majority of the electricity poles lying in the dumpyard cannot be used again. But these can be sold in scrap to generate funds for new lights. I will visit the dumpyard tomorrow. The ones which can be repaired will be reused.

— manjeet pal singh, in-charge, streetlights, amc

Amritsar, July 9
As the Amritsar rural police steps up action against bootleggers active in the rural areas, illicit liquor manufacturers have started devising new methods to prepare and hide liquor in a bid to fool the police.

In the recent seizure, the anti-narcotic cell of the Amritsar rural police recovered an ordinary drum which was customised for fermentation of lahan (raw material needed to prepare country-made liquor) from a house in Mian Pandher village of the Kathunangal area.

The house belonged to Tarsem Singh, who fled after seeing the raiding police team. The police recovered 10 bottles of liquor from the scene.

“The iron drum is permanently fitted with a plate which is connected with electricity wires and iron coils for heating lahan and ferment it to produce liquor,” said Sanjiv Sharma, in charge, anti-narcotic cell. The new method is less time consuming.

“The manufacturers just have to put lahan in the container in the drum and supply electricity. They don’t need to do anything else,” he added.

Other methods

This is not the only case of ‘innovation’, the police detected a number of new methods adopted by bootleggers to hide lahan and produce liquor. “In some areas, the accused had hidden lahan in water tanks on the rooftops.

In another case, they had dug a 3-feet pit wherein they had stored lahan,” said Preet Paul Singh Virk, district police chief, Amritsar rural police.

The liquor prepared from such methods could prove fatal for consumers.

In the recent past, it was observed that certain bootleggers used industrial alcohol for preparing illicit liquor. Such alcohols are used as thinner in paints. The liquor prepared from this method could severely damage human organs and ultimately resulting into death.

Lahan, liquor seized

The police party also raided the houses of Chanan Singh and Gurdial Singh of Mian Pandher village and recovered 150 kg of lahan and 30,000 ml of illicit liquor from their possession, respectively.

Amritsar, July 9
Waking up to the high incidence of petty crime, the city police has decided to strengthen the beat system by integrating various wings working under SHOs for better coordination.

The fleet of four-wheelers and motorcycles would too be increased and would be added in the police squads by August 15.

Police Commissioner RP Mittal said currently, three wings -traffic, crime stoppers and PCR - besides police teams at various nakas work under an SHO of a particular police station. But these wings usually work on their own, which affects efficient policing, he said.

Due to lack of proper coordination among various wings, the police could not produce desired results in keeping a check on anti-social elements.

“Now, these wings have been integrated and would work under the supervision of the SHO concerned. The idea was to have better coordination among various wings and hence better policing,” said Mittal.

It is pertinent to mention here that under the police reforms, the police department was provided with vehicles fitted with GPS system, but it did not bear the desired results.

Now, the information regarding the beat officer of every area would be there with the control room. Beats have been distributed as per the map of the area of police station concerned.

The Police Commissioner said soon the state government would provide about 10 Tavera vehicles, taking the figure of vehicles available with the city police to 24. Over 50 motorcycles would also be included in the police force.

“Keeping in the view of long duty hours, the beat officers would be changed after every two hours,” said the Police Commissioner. He expressed hope that this would help in brining down the crime rate.

Amritsar, July 9
The Punjab Right to Service (PRTS) Commission will work on a twin-pronged strategy to implement the PRTS Act in an effective way, said Dr Dalbir Singh, Commissioner, PRTS Commission here today.

The strategy would be to regular assess the performance of various departments on the basis of disposal of applications within a stipulated timeframe and at the same time dissemination of information about the Act with the help of vigorous publicity through the print and electronic media.

He said Punjab is the first state in the country to form the PRTS Commission for an effective implementation of the Act.

He said the Act is designed to empower the common man and to tame the wayward amongst the bureaucrats. He said besides training workshops for designated officers, public meetings are being organised in the districts, sub-divisions and villages as part of awareness programme.

The Commissioner said in order to match pace, the commission would soon come up with its website which will provide detailed information on the Act as well as contain the online performa for application/complaint under the Act. This would also enable the applicant to check the status of application under the PRTS Act online.

Enumerating on the details of complaints received, the commissioner said since the Commission’s inception seven months ago, it has received 37 cases for appeal statewide whereas 15,07,319 citizens have availed of services under the Act.

Out of 170 cases with various first appellate authorities and 11 with second appellate authorities, two cases are pending with the respective authorities.

He said the PRTS Commission has recommended notification of 41 more citizen centric services under the Act and has also urged the authorities to provide adequate staff to the local bodies and other departments to improve the delivery of services to the people.

Originally, 67 services were notified under the Act on July 28, 2011, when it was implemented in the state. Later, two more services were added to it in May this year. However, the commission has now recommended increasing the number of such services to 110. Among the new services recommended are giving interim medico legal report to the person concerned with in two days, copy of complete medico legal report in seven days, issuance of disability certification in four days, demarcation of plot by housing and urban development in five days, attested copy of any document in three days. Other recommended services are related to Local Bodies Department, Punjab Mandi Board, Industry Department, Housefed and Colonisation Department.

official speak
The PRTS Commission has recommended notification of 41 more citizen centric services under the Act and has also urged the authorities to provide adequate staff to the local bodies and other departments to improve the delivery of services to the people.

— dr dalbir singh, commissioner, prts commission

Amritsar, July 9
The SAD-BJP coalition government is all set to introduce special technical courses for youth as well as housewives. The courses aim to make them self-reliant, the state Industry and Technical Education minister Anil Joshi while addressing a religious function here today. He said the state government, keeping in view the demand of the industry, was trying to make technical institutes more receptive.

Courses which are in demand in the market would be introduced soon. He said for housewives, courses of small duration would be introduced to turn them into skilled workers so that they can gain employment in their nearby industries.

He claimed that the SAD-BJP government came back to power due to its performance during its previous stint and the momentum will be maintained to provide quality life to the people of the state. He said a road connecting Majitha Road with Ranjit Avenue will be constructed soon to reduce the distance. He said within the next six months historic Ram Bagh would become the most beautiful park.

Amritsar, July 9
Medical research is set to spoil the fun for those hooked to getting their feet nibbled by the Garra Rufa fish or more popularly known as the Doctor Fish. The foot spa which became the biggest trends last year may not be as good as it makes you feel, say doctors.

Studies conducted by health officials in UK and India say fish foot spa pedicures can spread diseases such as Hepatitis C and even HIV.

Harmeet, the owner of the one of a fish spa salon in city says, “It’s wrong to say that fish pedicure is not healthy. It is a trend very common in the South Asian countries and even Europe. The fish used i.e Garra Rufa is a Turkish fish known for its therapeutic value. It feeds on dead skin, leaving a fresh and healthy layer of the skin to grow.”

He says, “While most fish spa owners use Garra Rufa fish but if some other similar species of Indian fish is used to feed on the dead skin in the absence proper knowledge, it may be detrimental to human health.”

Those with psorasis and diabetes or weak immune system should avoid this trend, the doctors say.

“Regular fish spa treatments available in the market are not very hygienic as the same fish feed on several people.

But to say that it can spread diseases like HIV and hepatitis would not be correct. There is no documented proof about it and research on Hepatitis is still under process. But one should avoid such practices,” says Dr Ravi Saini, a leading skin specialist from city. Dr Gurdeep Singh, another dermatologist from city, “The risk of infection for users of the increasingly popular treatment, in which dozens of tiny fish nibble dead skin from customers feet is ‘low but could not be completely excluded. Fish tank water contains micro-organisms and problems could arise from bacteria being transmitted by the pedicure’s Garra Rufa fish, from the spa water itself or from one customer to another if the water is not changed.” But then if the correct procedure and hygiene standards are maintained, the problem could be avoided.

“One must avoid going for it if the skin is sensitive or has cuts or wounds. Though, most spa owners take precautions and maintain cleanliness, one must ensure one’s own safety while going for a fish spa,” says Harmeet.

Amritsar, July 9
The industrial area at Bal Kalan village, which was incorporated in the Master Plan for the holy city, will be developed under the special purpose vehicle (SPV) arrangement.

The industrial area, about 3.5 kms from Majitha bypass, would become the prototype of SPV in the holy city in which the government and industrialists of the area would invest together for the development of infrastructure in the area.

Talking to Amritsar Tribune, Industry Minister Anil Joshi said the state government recently passed the Punjab Common Infrastructure in Industrial Area (Regulation and Maintenance Act) as per which all industrial areas and focal points in the state would be developed under the SPV model.

He said Bal Kalan would be the first industrial area to be developed under the model in the holy city and gradually the model would be replicated in all industrial areas.

Elaborating the new format, he said maintenance of infrastructure in industrial areas and focal points would be carried out by forming special purpose vehicle (SPV) by stakeholders and allottees.

He said common infrastructure including roads, parks, streetlights, water supply, sewerage system, garbage processing, common research and development centre would be maintained through government authorised SPV.

The Industry Minister said the SPV would be a legal body constituted under this Act and comprising all allottees of the industrial area for which it has been constituted. He elaborated that the SPV would form an executive committee in accordance with its bylaws to maintain the common and basic amenities in according to local circumstances. He added that besides members from allottees, the committee would have representatives from developers, government and local municipal corporations and committees.

On allocation of funds, Joshi said there is no limit as such. The infrastructural development works could be initiated under 60:40 cost sharing ration between the state government and the industry association.

Besides, he said the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has been directed to link the power supply line of Bal Kalan area to any of the nearest feeder instead of the feeder at the Fetehgarh Churriyan road. He added that the work has started and would be completed by July 12.

Sundeep Khosla, president, Bal Kalan Industrial Welfare Association, said industrialists of the area have been holding meeting and completing the formalities.

About 70 units of mixed industries are functioning from Bal Kalan. Majority of these are textile units. The area started attracting industrial units from 2004 onwards as many industrialists packed their units on Batala and Majitha roads and sold off the land to pocket the profit following the real estate boom. Eventually, they procured plots at much cheaper rate at Bal Kalan village.

Meanwhile, the industrial units that have come up in the village lack proper planning and regularisation. They are grappling with problems like non-existent sewerage, roads and streetlights. Even, power supply is provided from a feeder, situated 17 km away on the Fetehgarh Churriyan road.