Amritsar, July 25
One manhole left open by the Municipal Corporation authorities left a family staring into the death trap which took the life of a precious member of the family Kanika Chugh. This was not all, a father-son duo was also injured due to the same open manhole on Albert Road, which connects the main GT Road with the Civil Lines area. Such death traps may have led a national outcry but the Municipal Corporation authorities have done little to stop such accidents. The manhole was, however, covered today after it claimed a young life on Tuesday evening and left two others injured in the wee hours today.

Kanika (27) an interior designer by profession was on her way to the main GT Road from her Shastri Nagar residence when her scooter fell into the open manhole on Albert Road leaving her critically injured. The road connects the main GT Road with the Civil Lines area. She was rushed to a private hospital where she was declared brought dead.

The MC authorities claimed that the manhole was not open. MC Commissioner Dharampal Gupta said he has been told that the manhole was not open instead the employees have put a lid which is bigger than the size of the manhole leading to the accidents.

"I have marked an enquiry to Jaswinder Singh, Additional Commissioner, Technical. The guilty would be taken to task," he said. He said as per the information provided to him, the MC authorities received a complaint that the manhole cover was stolen, following which the employees concerned put a cover bigger than the size of the manhole leaving it five to six inches above the surface of the road.

Jaswinder Singh said as there was no eyewitness at that time, we are still investigating into the incident. As per the initial probe it is found that the manhole cover was raised from its surface which led to the incidents.

Amritsar, July 25
One open manhole led to two major accidents within hours since last evening. Whether the manhole had no lid or it was covered but the lid was higher than the ground level as claimed by MC Commissioner Dharampal Gupta authorities are to be seen but lack of monitoring on part of the MC authorities led to two major accidents at the same spot. There are many more such death traps putting lives of the commuters all over the city.

The BJP-led municipal corporation authorities had claimed that during in its previous stint had claimed that roads had been laid across the city. The result of ignoring residents' pleas that the manholes had been placed too low or above the ground is for everyone to see. Such lack of foresight is leading to the loss of precious lives that too in one of the biggest cities of the state.

Sources said the flaw in setting up of manholes brings out the lack of coordination between various wings of the MC. The result is that these manholes are uneven as they are either placed too low or above the level of the road, thereby putting the lives of the commuters to risk, especially those riding two-wheelers as was the case today.

Manholes without covers can be seen at Preet Avenue on Fatehgarh Churiyan Road, Lawrence Road, Indira Colony, Majitha Road, Batala Road, the road outside Ram Bagh Gate and at a shopping complex in Ranjit Avenue.

On the other hand, uneven manholes can be seen at MM Malviya Road, White Avenue, Green Avenue area and others.

While at some places the concrete padding around the lids above the road has come off, while at others, the lids are placed much below the surface of the road. Accidents take place when commuters suddenly notice the broken lids or the ones placed below the road level and thus get little time to negotiate them.

A resident Surjit Sharma said the government agencies have failed to check complete removal the worn out roads before laying new ones. "It resulted in the lids of manholes either being too low or too high", he said. He said besides the level of many houses has gone down to the roads in there area contributing to sewerage and other problems.

Two-wheeler riders complain of backaches and other health problems because of the bumpy roads. Even the Majitha Road has more than six manholes in the middle of the road.

A manhole located on Lawrence Road led to many accidents with mostly two-wheeler riders involved in them. Here the manhole lid is one foot lower than the surface of the road. The job to place manhole covers is done by private parties, yet it is the responsibility of the MC officials to inspect and get them placed in a proper manner.

Amritsar, July 25
Whether announced or unannounced, power cuts in city have become the norm. Against official claims that the power cuts are only for six hours, residents say they stretch between 8 and 12 hours a day.

As the power cuts are more frequent during the school hours, the situation is particularly taxing for the students here. Think of innocent children made to sit under trees at government schools. All they have are their notebooks to use as a fan. The residents rue that because of the erratic power supply, water supply too has been affected.

Jorawar Singh, a resident said, “For the past few days the water supply has not been regular. Sometimes there is not sufficient water even to drink.” He said power supply should be regular. The residents complained that unscheduled power cuts are more troublesome.

Sangeeta Verma, a homemaker said, “All the work in the kitchen stops as these run on costly electrical appliances.” She said everyone can not use generator sets for alternate power supply.

Balwant Singh, a resident of Gumtala said, “Sometimes the voltage is so low that even the fans barely move. The electricity control rooms never answer phones to register complaints.” He said on the one hand, the power corporation has enhanced electricity charges but the supply has gone down.

An employee of a private firm, Pritam Kumar said, “At least there should be regular supply during night. Lack of sleep makes us yawn in office.”

Residents of Sultanwind area also staged a protest outside Sultanwind sub-office today. They said the employees do not answer their calls.

Amritsar, July 25
The Amritsar Bar Association observed a ‘no-work day’ today to protest against the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s decision to include cases under the Negotiable Instruments Act under the preview of evening courts.

The strike by advocates caused problems for a large number of litigants who have come from far-off villages.

A visitor Joginder Kumar said, “I travelled in such heat only to find advocates on strike.” He said the matter should be resolved at the earliest.

The high court had introduced evening courts in 2010 to lessen the work load on regular courts. Initially the cases under the Motor Vehicle Act were taken up during the evening courts. The Amritsar Bar Association had earlier passed a resolution to oppose the move to include cases under the Negotiable Instruments Act saying that advocates would have to spend longer time in the courts. The association said as many advocates and even litigants come from far-off villages, it is practically not possible for them to stay till late evening hours.

Gurpreet Singh Panesar, general secretary of the association, said a delegation of the Bar would meet the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday to discuss the matter with him.

The advocates have been boycotting the evening courts for the past three days.

“We would announce our future course of action after meeting the Chief Justice tomorrow. We are hopeful that matter would be resolved,” said Panesar.

Amritsar, July 25
The decision of the state government to ban sale of chewing tobacco in two districts --- Amritsar and Ropar --- has been welcomed by various sections of society.

Chief Parliamentary Secretary Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu on Tuesday informed the media about the decision to ban sale of chewing tobacco in Ropar and Amritsar from August 15.

The State Tobacco Control Cell had earlier announced to declare these two districts as smoke-free districts by August 15.

While welcoming the decision, Voice of Tobacco Victims patron Dr Prahlad Duggal said, “The decision should be extended in the entire state.” Dr Duggal had been instrumental in getting a pledge signed from the Akal Takhat Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh for the ban on sale of gutka.

Dr Duggal said as per an estimate there are around 28 lakh chewing tobacco users in the state. “As per medical estimates one third of the chewing tobacco users are bound to die a premature death,” said Duggal adding that seven per cent of Punjab’s population uses tobacco.

He said 26 per cent of Indian populace under the age of 40 years is addicted to gutka. He said gutka which has tobacco and areca nut (supari) is a highly addictive and deadly substance.

Pritam Singh, a local resident, said, “The government should strictly ban all such products which are ruing the lives of youth.” 

Amritsar, July 25
The district health department today organised a function to mark the inauguration of ORS (oral rehydration solution) Week at Jallianwala Bagh Memorial Civil Hospital. During the function, parents of the children who visited the hospital today were distributed free ORS packets.

Civil Surgeon Dr Hardep Singh Ghai said that health department has planned a series of programmes at various institutions till July 31.

He said dehydration among little children is also a major cause of infant morality. He said parents must watch their children against dehydration and give ample quantity of ORS for rehydration.

Child Specialist Dr Naresh said that ORS packets are available free of cost at all the government health institutions in the state. 

Amritsar, July 25
Whenever we needed tending and mending, our moms and grandmothers used to add an apple to the prescription to a healthy life, citing the common phrase. Wonder if anybody tried adding a pet to that list!

Ask your neighbourhood doctor and he will explain how pets can help us lead a happy and healthy life. If you are feeling low and are going through a lot of stress, you should consider getting a pet. As some medical facts go, pets make us fitter, happier and better human beings.

We check out with some families who own a pet just to add some relevance to the fact.

The first nod of agreement comes from Bhupinder Singh and his family. They vouch for the fact that the presence alone of their two-year-old pug, Bruno, acts as the ultimate stress buster for the entire family. “Whenever I am around him, I feel relaxed and at ease. Whether you play with him or just watch him, one gets the feeling of being happy,” shares Bhupinder Singh about the youngest member of the family.

Of course, it does mean that Bruno keeps them on their toes all day long.

The medical mumbo jumbo explains the level of happiness by the decreased levels of cortisol, a stress-inducing hormone, and increased levels of serotonin, a hormone associated with well-being. But Bhupinder believes that it’s the emotional bonding between a pet and his owner that makes it a healthy relationship. “Bruno is like a kid to us. He is deeply attached to the family and with him one experiences all kinds of emotions. That makes for quite a healthy relationship.”

For Pawan Tuteja, his two-year-old Labrador Tiger is a good influence on his kids. “I have two daughters, six-year-old Alisha and two-year old Samayra. Tiger is the best company they have, the elder one accompanies him for walks and the younger one sleeps sound only when Tiger is around.”

He himself agrees that after a hard day’s work, time spent with Tiger relieves all the stress off him. “Whenever I am in a bad mood, I spend time with Tiger. It feels good to pamper him, take good care of him and he too is quite protective of the family.”

Shelly Ahuja, a 19-year-old student of journalism from the city, doesn’t need to crash diet or spend thousands of rupees on gymming thanks to Buddy, her German shepherd. “One has to take him out to walk, play with him and entertain his antics throughout the day. The reason I never had to go to a gym to keep a check on my weight,” she says. Also, she tags along her grandfather while the routine long walks with Buddy. “I guess that’s what keeps him off having a heart attack, even at 80,” she gushes.

Amritsar, July 25
The city police has nabbed Major Singh of Khurmania village for allegedly possessing a huge quantity of habit-forming drugs. He was caught with the drugs from outside Hall Gate.

“During the investigation, Major Singh revealed that traders provided the drugs outside Hall Gate or any other designated place and he need not go inside the market for the same,” said Joga Singh, SHO, Kotwali police station.

The city’s main medicine market known as Katra Sher Singh market is located inside the Hall Gate. Investigations revealed that he had been selling drugs to addicts.

The police has seized 40,000 capsules and tablets of habit-forming drugs of different brands from him. A case under Section 21, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against him. He said been taken on a one-day police remand.

In another seizure, the Kotwali police arrested another drug peddler Khushal Singh of Bandala village with 1,500 intoxicant capsules today. He was held from near Municipal Corporation office.

The Civil Lines police arrested Inderjit Singh and Hardev Singh of the Navi Abadi area with 55 grams of narcotic powder and stolen LPG cylinders. The accused were drug addicts and had stolen LPG cylinders and a mobile phone from residences located in the New Amritsar area.

Amritsar, July 25
A month after a man committed suicide by jumping into Sultanwind Canal, the city police booked his wife and in-laws for abetment of suicide. Police investigations revealed that Dinesh was allegedly harassed by his in-laws which forced him to take this extreme step on June 26.

Earlier, the police has initiated proceedings under 174 CrPC.

The police had lodged a complaint on the basis of the statement of Inderjit Joshi, deceased’s father.

The B-division police station has registered a case under Sections 306 and 34 of the IPC against Dinesh’s wife Neha Joshi, mother-in-law Rama Sahni and father-in-law Satish Sahni.

Surinder Mohan, SHO, B-division police station, said no arrest has been made so far.