Trying to break taboo with knotty affair
Amritsar, July 30
If there is one thing that Indian parents love doing is matchmaking. For them nothing beats the celebration of watching their kids getting married. But have you ever heard kids looking for a possible bride or groom for their parents? If yes, then this movie is for you.

Amritsar, July 30
The garbage collection system has collapsed as the Antony Waste Handling Company engaged for job has shut down its operations due to nonpayment of their dues amounting to Rs 1.6 crore.

Though the MC came out to manage the job on its own, the garbage spilling over from bins and mounds of refuse scattered in various parts of the city proved that the MC was ill-equipped to collect the garbage from the entire city.

This has also left 200 company employees, including 72 drivers, 90 helpers and others, without a job.

MC officials said the state government has not released the funds since December last, despite repeated reminders.

It has been learnt that the funds have already been arrived to the state from the Centre, but it could not be transferred in the MC's account.

Anil Chandala, manager of the company, said all these discrepancies erupted because the MC did not clear their dues committed under the agreement since December last. Earlier in May, the company had stalled its operations as fuel pump dealers refused supply to company's trucks. "The moment MC clears our dues, we will start the operation. Till then, we have temporarily suspended the services. The whole issue has been conveyed to our main office at Delhi too", he said.

Going by an estimate, over 1,500 tonnes of garbage is lying in various localities of the city. On an average, 280-300 tonnes of garbage is produced everyday.

Worst hit areas were Lawrence Road, Majitha road, Ranjit Avenue, Batala Road, Queens Road, Customs Chowk.

With no option left, residents at several localities set garbage on fire.

"The authorities should immediately break the impasse with the garbage collecting firm, otherwise it would be very difficult to breathe here," said Naresh, a resident. 

Amritsar, July 30
Breakdown in the Northern Grid in the wee hours jolted the holy city today. Without electricity and water, the city was paralysed for almost 10 hours till the power supply was restored at 11.55 am.

People from all walks of life, including shopkeepers, housewives, office goers and schoolchildren underwent a lot of inconvenience.

The breakdown delayed as many as 12 trains.

The Municipal Corporation could not provide water to houses in the morning hours.

Residents who had inverters at their houses did not go through much hassle, but those without inverters had a sleepless night. Even inverters at several houses went out of order.

Light rain coupled with strong winds came as the only respite for the residents in the morning.

Prabhjit Kaur, a resident of Ranjit Avenue, said it proved very difficult to manage without power and water at the same time.

Amritsar, July 30
Hit by water-logging, hundreds of residents of the Sultanwind area today took the protest path to catch the fancy of the civic authorities. The mild showers in the wee hours today left the area water-logged.

Residents blocked the main Amritsar-Jalandhar GT Road for three hours following which the officials of the Amritsar Municipal Corporation and the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board reached the site to pacify them.

Even as the officials assured residents to drain out water instantly, residents said it would only be a temporary relief. They said the root cause to the problem is the inefficient water disposal system.

The area has dirty water ponds where stagnation is a common problem. During monsoons, the dirty water spills over and enters the residential lanes.

A resident, Ravinder Kumar said most part of the area was hit by water-logging following a brief spell of rain today. “The officials said the area has been excluded from the sewerage project because the cost of the project had gone up manifold due to delay in the work. Officials also said it would not be feasible to spend over Rs 113 crore only to revamp the Sultanwind area,” he said.

Balwinder Kaur, a resident of Patti Mansur, said rainwater entered her kitchen. Baljeet Singh, resident of Patti Sultan, said the dirty ponds have become perfect ground for breeding mosquitoes while exposing them to deadly diseases.

Another resident of Patti Malkan, Pargat Singh said, “There have been deaths due to water-borne diseases in the past. Despite our numerous requests to the authorities, no efforts were made to rectify the water disposal system in the area.”

Amritsar, July 30
The city police today arrested four members of a gang of snatchers, who were involved in as many as 60 snatching incidents in the city.

The arrested were identified as Manjit Singh of Mandir Wala Bazaar, Sultanwind road, Daljit Singh and Harjit Singh of Akash Avenue and Jaswinder Singh of New Gurnam Nagar. Their two accomplices, identified as Jagrup Singh of Kathunangal and Harpal Singh of Mata Ganga Ji Nagar, Bhai Manjh road, managed to escape.

Police Commissioner RP Mittal said the police recovered 500 grams of charas, 400 grams of narcotic powder, two country-made pistols with eight live cartridges, sharp edged weapons, a laptop, seven mobile phones and a car from their possession.

Acting on a tip-off, the CIA staff raided the firecracker market in the Jahajgarh area, where the gang was planning a robbery, and arrested the four. A case under relevant sections of the IPC, NDPS Act and Arms Act has been registered against them in this regard.

Amritsar, July 30
Members of NGO Mission Aagaaz along with residents and environment lovers performed a prayer to save pipal and banyan trees in Durgiana Mandir complex and urged the Punjab Government to save these tress as well as other trees in Amritsar by declaring these as heritage trees.

These trees are not only important from religious point of view, but are also very important for preserving the ecosystem, they said.

Deepak Babbar, activist of Mission Aagaaz, said, “We appreciate ‘green’ efforts of the Punjab Government. If planting new saplings is important, preserving age-old trees is also vital for our existence,” he said.

Gurbej Singh, secretary of Mission Aagaaz, said, “The so-called ‘paschatap havan’, organised by the Durgiana Committee, is a mockery of religious sentiments. We strongly lodge our protest against this drama. It is just like saying sorry to a person before killing him. These age-old green saviours are to be sacrificed to pave way for a commercial market under the guidelines of Improvement Trust, Amritsar. We demand apology from the Durgiana Mandir Management Committee for this heinous act,” he said.

Mission Aagaaz activists appealed to the state government to finalise their plan to declare pipal and bohar trees as heritage trees.

This resolution was to be brought in March 2009 on the occasion of World Forest Day.

In the past, the District Forest Department, under the headship of the then DFO NS Randhawa, had also planned to save these trees by putting boards quoting Gurbani/ shloks/mantras and the references of saints.

The matter has also been brought into the notice of Chief Parliamentary Secretary Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu who has assured them to do her best to save these trees.

Amritsar, July 30
The deadline for restaurants, eating outlets and grocery stores keeping food products to get registered under the Food Safety Act has been extended by another six months. Earlier deadline was August 4.

Amrit Lal Jain, vice-president, Bharatiya Udhyog Beopar Mandal, an all-India body of traders, said he has received a copy of the decision from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

He said a delegation of the BUBM had met Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad in this regard in June.

Jain said the FSA was copied from the developed countries and implemented without keeping in view the domestic conditions. He said the country does not have adequate number of laboratories to test the quality of food. Claiming that the number of these labs was less than 100, Jain demanded that each district of the country must have at least one such lab.

Meanwhile, the Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal, the state unit under the BUBM, will hold agitation against the FSA on August 9 in the state, including Amritsar.

Amritsar, July 30
The physiotherapy centre at the Jallianwalla Bagh Memorial Civil Hospital has been gaining popularity among residents since it was launched earlier this year. Senior Medical Officer Dr Balbir Singh Dhillon said the fee charged by the hospital is very nominal in comparison to what is being charged by private centres.

“Here patients have to pay only Rs 10 to 15 where as the private clinics charge Rs 100 or 150 merely for consultation,” said Dhillon.

He said seeing the growing popularity of the centre, the hospital has already made orders for new machines like muscle stimulator.

Physiotherapist Gaurav Sharma said, “We get 15 to 20 patients daily. The daily OPD list is growing daily as more and more people are getting to know about the facility.” He said patients of cerebral palsy, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, disability cases and those having problem in movement are attended to daily.

Sharma said physiotherapy has given proven results in some cases where patients were advised surgeries. “Few of the patients were earlier advised surgery as the only treatment, but after physiotherapy, there was no need for surgery,” he said.

The physiotherapy centre of the Civil Hospital also provides occupational therapies for children suffering from cerebral palsy and other mental disabilities. “Sometimes after a brain or spinal cord injury, some of the patient’s movements are restricted. With regular physiotherapy exercises under the surveillance of a trained physiotherapist, such problems can be overcome,” he said.