Ludhiana, November 7
Residents living on the Jalandhar bypass are living under a constant fear of serious health hazards due to fly ash released by nearby industrial units. Residential areas such as Aman Nagar, Akash Nagar, Vinay Nagar, Bhaura village and the GT Road area are daily covered by a thick layer of fly ash, which is caused by the burning of rice husk, used as fuel by the industry.

Although some time ago the government had urged brick-kiln owners to use fly ash in making bricks, they have not found it practically viable.

Fly ash is giving a tough time to residents of the affected areas. It causes respiratory and eye problems.

Jagjit Singh, a resident of a colony on the Jalandhar bypass, said: "The ash gets deposited at night and heaps of it can be seen in the morning. Every day it is spread in our rooms and is virtually impossible for a person to sit in the open".

"Walking and driving a two-wheeler on these roads have also become impossible for me as I get eye irritation. Whenever I pass through this road, my eyes start getting a burning sensation as if some strong chemical has entered my eyes," said Kuldip Singh, another resident.

"The worst affected are small children and the aged as they regularly complain of eye irritation and respiratory problems," he said.

Residents have been complaining to the authorities concerned about the problem, but to no avail. "We have been making complaints in writing to the Punjab Pollution Control Board since 2007, but nothing has been done so far and a threat of skin
and respiratory diseases looms large over us," said Jagjit Singh. 

Ludhiana, November 7
The working of the newly formed crime investigation agency (CIA), operating under the ADCP-I, has come under the scanner following reports of residents being harassed by sleuths during the ongoing festive season.

The matter today snowballed into a controversy after Amit Gosain, vice-president of the BJP Yuva Morcha, accused the CIA of harassing innocent residents.

He accused the CIA of having double standards. He alleged that instead of taking action against those indulging in flesh trade, gamblers and bookies, the CIA was harassing innocent residents.

"While anti-social elements have been let-off, innocent residents are being picked up by the police and harassed," said Amit Gosain. It is not the first time that Amit Gosain has questioned the functioning of the city police.

Last year too, he had locked horns with the then ACP (Central), Naginder Rana, and had levelled graft allegations against him. The controversy led to Rana's transfer.

Sources said a sleuth allegedly took a kickback of Rs 1.6 lakh for not taking action against a resident, who was rounded up for being involved in betting. The matter was brought to the notice of Amit Gosain, who "rapped" police officials for harassing residents and taking money from them. It is learnt that the policeman allegedly returned the money to the resident.

"I don't want to comment on this issue. Let the right time come. I will divulge everything," said Gosain.

Interestingly, the CIA has come under attack at a time when Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal is laying stress on police reforms.

Ludhiana, November 7
The Ludhiana Municipal Corporation has managed to recover an amount of Rs 3.22 crore during the first five days of a special house tax recovery drive. Due to a shortage of funds, the civic body had started a special house tax recovery drive on November 1.

Earlier, from October 17 to October 31, which had nine working days, the MC had recovered Rs 2.10 crore as house tax, which came out to be around Rs 23 lakh daily.

However, from November 1 till date (five working days), the MC has recovered Rs 3.22 crore as house tax, which comes out to around Rs 64 lakh daily. Interestingly, of the total Rs 3.22 crore, more than 70 per cent (Rs 2.37 crore)
was recovered from Zone D alone.

House tax defaulters owed a whopping Rs 160 crore to the civic body. The MC managed to recover around Rs 45 crore by October 31 and an amount of Rs 115 crore was pending as house tax. Of this amount, an amount of Rs 3.22 crore has been recovered during the five working days since this special drive started.

Of the four zones, Zone D tops the list in the matter of pending house tax (Rs 46 crore), followed by Zone B, Zone C and Zone D.

Zone D consists of prominent markets such as the Sarabha Nagar market, the Mall Road, Ghumar Mandi, Model Town and more than half a dozen shopping malls-cum-multiplexes. It is learnt that there are several defaulters who owe more than Rs 1 crore each to the MC.

MC spokesman Kamlesh Bansal said initially it was decided that the special house tax recovery drive would be held from November 1 to November 9.

“However, we plan to extend this drive because we have managed to recover Rs 3.22 crore in five working days alone. I must admit that defaulters are still not coming forward and depositing the due amount themselves. I once again appeal to them that if they don’t want to be harassed, they should pay up the outstanding dues themselves,” said Kamlesh Bansal.

Ludhiana, November 7
With Divali round the corner, the Mayor has issued an advisory, urging the MC staff not to accept gifts from any person. He has urged residents also not to send Divali gifts for him or the staff of the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation.

Every year on the occasion of Divali, gifts worth lakhs are distributed to senior MC officials by those who are associated with the civic body. Even though receiving gifts is against the rules, the trend has been going on in the city for several years.

The trend is not limited to the MC. A large number of government officials receive gifts during Divali.

A person close to the Mayor said a few days ago, a leading businessman of the city had given a gift pack containing costly wrist watches. “The Mayor opened the gift pack and refused to accept it, stating that accepting gifts was against his principles. The Mayor then decided that he will not accept any gifts during Divali,” said the person.

Speaking to Ludhiana Tribune, Mayor Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria said he shared this idea with his staff, who approved of it.

“Senior MC officials like Zonal Commissioner Kamlesh Bansal have agreed that they will announce it publically that they will not accept any gifts this Divali. The MC staff should understand that they get salary for work and such gifts should not be accepted,” said the Mayor.

Ludhiana, November 7
With winter fast approaching and the hosiery season being at its peak, parcel bookings of hosiery and knitwear items have gone up manifold. As the number of parcels booked for destinations in different parts of the country keeps mounting with every passing day, traders have alleged that parcels are not loaded on trains on time. However, railway officials claim that the clearance of outstation parcels is "near normal".

According to railway officials, the average number of packages booked at the parcel office here, which was in the range of 700 to 800 every day during July and August, has shot up to 1,200-1,300 per day in October.

"As the winter season approaches, the number of parcels booked every day for transportation to different parts of the country goes up manifold, and the trend continues mainly during October and November, which are considered to be the peak season for hosiery trade," says Amarjit Singh, Chief Parcel Supervisor at the railway station here.

He claimed that the clearance time for parcels to be loaded on the intended trains was "near normal". "We make all possible efforts to ensure that parcels booked at the goods office are loaded within 48 hours so that there is no undue delay in their transportation."

Admitting that additional parcel vans were not being added to passenger trains for the time being to clear the increasing number of parcels, Amarjit Singh said most of the parcel wagons, which were earlier allocated on lease to private companies, had not been given on lease this year. For reasons unknown, these freight operators had opted to stay away from business this time around. "The have adequate number of wagons, and if more wagons are required, we will take up the matter with higher officials," he said.

Hosiery traders, however, said as the number of parcels keeps on increasing, the clearance time also goes up proportionately simply because railway staff fail to provide additional parcel vans to cope with the winter rush of goods, mainly comprising hosiery and woollen goods.

Rajesh Jain, a hosiery trader from Purana Bazar, alleged that he had been persistently following up some half a dozen consignments booked by him for different destinations in Uttar Pradesh. These had not been loaded on the intended trains for a week.

Another hosiery manufacturer, Kamlesh Gupta, also had a similar complaint. He said hosiery trade was a seasonal business, and even a little delay in the supply of woollen garments to the intended markets could spell disaster for the suppliers and manufacturers, who could even suffer loss of business and cancellation of orders.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, Nov 7
Agitated over not getting salaries for over three months, employees of private-aided schools have decided to observe "black" Diwali by keeping their houses dark.

Hundreds of activists of the Punjab State Private School Teachers Union have threatened to observe black Divali to protest against alleged unconcern of the administration towards regular payment of their salaries.

Having exhausted their savings and financial resources due to the ongoing festival season, the private teachers lamented that they had not been paid salaries after August month whereas employees of other organisations are getting bonus and extra allowances besides receiving regular salary and wages.

"It is on record that we have never received our salaries regularly for the past two decades. While the employees of private organisations receive bonus during festival season, we have to cut a sorry figure before shopkeepers to whom we owe money," said employees of the MGMN Senior Secondary School led by Amrit Pal and office-bearers of the union.

Besides demanding regular payment of salaries, the teachers have also urged the government to implement announced pension scheme, lift ban on recruitment and give allowances on a par with government employees.

The teachers alleged that the successive governments had ignored their long-pending demands.

Investigations further revealed that employees of some of the private schools were receiving only 95 per cent of their salaries as the management committees of their institutes had failed to arrange their share of the salary.

More than 50 per cent of the staff of these private schools was working on ad hoc basis and getting salary much lower than their counterparts.

Acknowledging that salary was usually delayed due to non-receipt of grant from the education department principals at almost private-aided schools at local town and surrounding localities regretted that all efforts to get the bills for said months passed had failed.

"Though we have been sending special messengers instead of depending on postal services for sending and receiving concerned, the officials in education and treasury department have not cleared our bills," said Pardeep Sharda principal of the MGMN Senior Secondary School.

Ludhiana, November 7
The youth of Punjab can play a vital role in launching a crusade against the social evils prevalent in the society and to create legal awareness among people. They should come forward to play a bigger role in the larger interest of society.

This was stated by Gobinder Singh, Sessions Judge-cum-Chairman of the Legal Services Authority, Ludhiana, after inaugurating a two-day Legal Literacy Youth Festival at the Government College for Boys here today.

The Deputy Commissioner, Rahul Tiwari, Commissioner of Police Ishwar Singh, Chief Judicial Magistrate KK Singla, Magistrate Rahul Garg, and Principal of the college Neelam Bhardwaj were present during the lamp-lighting ceremony.

This was for the first time that the Legal Services Authority has taken such a initiative to interact with students of colleges, stated the Sessions Judge.

He said legal literacy clubs had been set up in 75 per cent colleges and process was on to cover all the colleges under the programme. Legal aid clinics have been set up in a number of villages on the pattern of medical dispensaries to ensure that villagers have legal information at the village level.

Later, the students of different colleges spoke on the topics of drug addiction, corruption, ragging and legal literacy, etc.

A panel of judges observed their performance. The results will be declared after the final round tomorrow.

Singla said the authority was providing free legal services to persons having income less than Rs 1 lakh per annum, any women or a person belonging to the SCs and STs, physically challenged, those affected of a big calamity and industrial worker. They were being provided lawyers free of cost. The fee of lawyers was paid by the authority.

Ludhiana, November 7
A statewide cancer awareness and symptom based early detection of cancer campaign is being started form December 1 onwards in Ludhiana. Under the campaign, a-door-to door survey of cancer cases will be conducted with the help of ASHA Workers,

ASHA facilitators, MPHW (M&F) (Multi-Purpose Health Workers, male and female) and other field staff. This was disclosed by Dr Kaushal Saini Assistant Civil Surgeon, Ludhiana.

He said that four types of cases would be diagnosed under this survey. This includes cases with early symptoms and suspected of cancer, patients of cancer who have already completed their treatment, deaths due to cancer.

It needs to be mentioned here that a similar survey has recently been conducted in Faridkot district.

The aim of the campaign is to identify the cancer cases in general population to know the exact prevalence of the disease in Punjab and to create awareness among general public regarding early symptoms of cancer so that it is detected at an early stage.

An orientation training was conducted at the office of the Civil Surgeon, Ludhiana, by a team from the State Head Quarters in which over 80 Asha Workers, Asha Facilitators, MPHW Female and that of the LHV participated.

Ludhiana, November
Amandeep Kumar, a class XI student of Government Senior Secondary School of Dehlon, has been selected by the Japan International Corporation for a free educational trip to Japan under Kizuna Project. Kumar, who is one among the four selected candidates of the border state, has been chosen on the basis of his consistent brilliant record when he was a student of Government High School, Jartoli, near here. His had topped the region in class VIII and Class X examination conducted by the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) and his name appeared in state merit list too.

District Education Officer (senior) Paramjit Kaur Chahal and Narinder Saggar, district Edusat coordinator greeted the student and gave him tips on tour abroad.

Balwinder Singh Grewal, principal of the school said 41 meritorious students from developing countries are invited every year by the sponsoring organisation. 

Doraha, November 7
The road under the Doraha flyover is in a bad condition for months together. The authorities not to be concerned about the tough time that the commuters have to spend while passing through this road. With the passage of time, the road has degenerated to the extent that it has resulted in slip discs, injuries and in some cases even fractures, of which the commuters generally complain.

This road is used to commute by thousands of vehicles ranging from two-wheelers to heavy commercial vehicles. Due to absence of any re-carpeting, coupled with poor maintenance, the condition of the road has worsened, both for the two-wheelers and the four-wheelers in a huge number on this particular stretch. “The commuters have no other option as they cannot even adopt and alternate route. The big potholes have made travelling for the two wheelers next to impossible,” rued a villager of Kohara.

Although this road serves as a major link from under the Doraha bridge towards National Highway, all those coming from Chandigarh-Neelon side and going towards Ludhiana, apart from the residents of Doraha and surrounding villages, have to take to this road to reach NH-1. But this single road has been singled further as one side of it is carpeted and another is used only by those who have least care for the tyres of their vehicles getting worse due to big potholes on that part.

“Little attention has been paid to improve it. Moreover, the villagers take up this road as a matter of routine. The broken dusty stretch has reduced the life of villagers to a virtual hell. The residents and the road users complain that it is a very uncomfortable ride especially at some specific places. The rains plays further havoc as the holes, filled with rain water,” complained one of the commuters. The town people complain that the monsoons multiply their woes manifold. The problem is further aggravated at the time of night with reduced visibility and poor judgement.

The town people rue that the authorities had been informed several times about the sorry state of affairs. But every time the matter has been left in the lurch. “The residents are now eagerly looking forward towards the authorities regarding the speedy re-carpeting of the road. Several times has the issue been highlighted through the media but to no avail. For temporary solutions, no constructive change has taken place all through these years,” rued a resident.

EO Doraha when contacted said: “This road does not fall under our preview. It is the PWD’s baby. Due to the inconvenience faced by the commuters and the residents, we have already talked to Speaker, Charanjit Atwal, regarding the speedy re-carpeting of the same. We hope the same to be done in the near future.”

Ludhiana, November 7
Twelve deaths due to dengue have been "reported" so far across the state.

According to sources, "Of 12 deaths, four have been reported from the PGI, Chandigarh, while eight patients had died at the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital. Four patients, who had been reported to have died of dengue, are from Mohali district, two from Ludhiana and one each from Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Moga, Muktsar, Ropar and Sangrur districts."

The State Epidemiologist and Member Secretary of the State-Level Dengue Death Review Committee (DDRC), Dr Gagandeep Singh, said: "Medical confirmation of dengue deaths is yet to be done. The District Dengue Death Review Committee, comprising medical experts, will review the medical records of the deceased at the district level and send their report to the state authorities. And again the committee will review the reports of the district-level Dengue Death Review Committee and confirm as if those patients died of dengue or some other disease."

District Epidemiologist of Ludhiana Anil Verma said, "We have sent reports of two deaths in Ludhiana district. One of these patients did not die of dengue. The report of the second death, which was caused by dengue, has been sent to the state-level DDRC for further review."

Dr Gagandeep Singh said, "We have received reports of dengue deaths from Ludhiana and Kapurthala districts. We hope to get reports from the DDRCs of remaining districts in a week or so. I think the State-level Dengue Death Review Committee will be able to give its report in 10 days."

Meanwhile, the total number of confirmed dengue cases in Ludhiana district has gone up to 151 with seven more cases being confirmed today. These cases are from Model Town, Pakhowal Road, Haibowal Kalan, Tagore Nagar here.

According to a press note issued by the Health Department, a total of 24 dengue cases, including seven from the district, were confirmed today. Of these, four cases are from Hoshiarpur, two each from Sangrur and Ferozepur, one each from Kapurthala, Patiala, Faridkot, Mansa, Jalandhar and Ropar. The total number of dengue cases reported from other districts has gone up to 133.

With two dengue cases from Haryana and one from J&K being confirmed today, the number of cases from other states has risen to 30.

Ludhiana, November 7
A total of Rs 17.50 crore was today surrendered to the Income Tax Department. Raids at Palace Jewellers and Palace Jewellers Pvt Ltd yielded a total of Rs 11.50 crore. While Palace Jewellers surrendered Rs 3.50 lakh, Palace Jewellers Pvt Ltd surrendered a whopping Rs 8 crore. According to the sources in the department, a survey at the cable network company yielded Rs 6 crore though no official statement regarding the same was made.

Raman Goyal, Commissioner, Income Tax, Ludhiana III, said: "We have brought account books from the cable company and the study of the same is going on. If any discrepancy is found in the books then we will take further action," he said. The survey which started last morning was carried till 8 am today.

Meanwhile, surveys were also carried out at the forging and auto part units at the Focal Point under the directions of Range I, Commissioner, Kuldip Singh.

Similar surveys were also conducted at KP Industry, KW Engineering, Kiston Industry and Crystal Rlectrical Pvt Ltd under the supervision of the Commissioner, DS Brar. The surveys were going on till the filing of the report.

Jagraon, November 7
Two persons were injured when a bus coming from the Moga side hit a bicyclist and then rammed into stationary three-wheelers on the Ludhiana-Moga highway, near Jagraon Bus Stand, this morning.

The injured have been identified as bicyclist Bachan Singh (65), a resident of Chaunkiman village, near here, and three-wheeler driver Mandar Singh (35), a resident of Kaunke Kalan village.

The bus belonging to New Fatehgarh Transport Company was on its way to Ludhiana from Moga. As soon as it reached near the Jagraon Bus Stand roundabout at around 10:25 am, it first hit a cyclist while trying to save an elderly woman who was crossing the highway. Bachan Singh was seriously injured.

According to eyewitnesses, after hitting the bicyclist, the bus driver lost control over the vehicle and rammed it into two stationary three-wheelers. Fortunately, there were no passengers in the three-wheelers when the accident took place. Mandar Singh, the driver of one of the two three-wheelers, was seriously injured in the accident.

The police took both the injured to the Civil Hospital, Jagraon, where doctors referred them to the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), Ludhiana, after giving them first aid.

The police has impounded the bus. The bus driver fled the scene immediately after the accident. 

Ludhiana, November 7
The district administration is reportedly perturbed over the “failure” of the Airports Authority to make functional the Doppler Very High Frequency Omni Range (DVOR) facility at the Sahnewal Airport. The equipment had been installed about four months ago. To know the reason for the delay in making the equipment functional, a meeting is scheduled by the administration for November 15.

Before setting up the DVOR facility, a thorough survey had been conducted and the state government had provided five acres (free of cost) for the purpose in July. Besides, as required by the Airports Authority, the overhead high-tension wires were laid underground. Roads were constructed as according to the requirement of the Airports Authority, still the facility has not become operational.

Director, Sahnewal Airport, VP Jain said the DVOR would be ready for homing purpose by November 15 but the approval for the visibility criteria had not been sanctioned by the Airports Authority yet. “Yes, there has been a delay and we hope that within a month, the DVOR facility can be put to use,” said Jain.

The DVOR provides a pilot an idea or visibility to land the plane on just two km of clear track. The Airports Authority had claimed that the facility would become functional by August- mid.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Commissioner, Rahul Tiwari, has asked the Airports Authority of India to attend a meeting on November 15 and explain the reasons for such a long delay in making the DVOR facility operational. "Whatever the Airports Authorities required, the state government provided them, still there is the delay on their part, which is not acceptable", Tiwari added.

Ludhiana, November 7
Farm experts from different parts of the country and abroad deliberated on various aspects of horticulture during the second day of the 5th Indian Horticultural Congress on "Horticulture for Food and Environment Security," underway at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU).

Technical sessions on global scenario of horticulture, new tools and novel biotechnological applications in horticulture, future research priorities and hi-tech interventions in horticulture; and mitigation and management of biotic and abiotic stresses in horticultural crops, were held.

The speakers hailed from renowned agricultural institutions and organisations of Canada, Austria, Italy, Australia and Indian states like New Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra.

During the horticultural congress, the experts dwelt upon the research priorities in vegetable crops, floriculture, and tropical and sub-tropical fruits; present status of temperate horticulture; opportunities for urban and peri-urban horticulture in India; potential and scope of high-value vegetable crops for domestic and export markets. Besides, they shed light on micronutrient management in horticultural crops; climate change; and novel fungicides: prospects and limitations in horticultural crops.

Earlier, the foreign delegates highlighted the global horticulture initiative with emphasis on vision and development priorities, global development in micro-propagation and their scope in India, grafting-an effective tool for abiotic stress alleviation in vegetables and priorities for post-harvest management research in tropical and sub-tropical fruit crops. The farm experts also delved upon the future prospects of fruit biotechnology and scope of nano-technology in horticulture.

Ludhiana, November 7
In a major breakthrough, the city police has busted a gang of snatchers, who used to snatch mobile phones of residents.

The snatchers had created panic in posh areas, including the Mall Road and the Civil Lines, with their repeated strikes.

The suspected snatchers, all residents of Shimlapuri and the surrounding areas, were nabbed at a naka by the Division No. 8 police here today. The police is tightlipped about the development.

According to police sources, the suspects, all drug addicts, used to snatch mobile phones of residents while they were talking on the phone.

"Their prime targets were women, who talk on mobile phones while walking. After snatching the mobile phones, they would sell these at throwaway prices," said the sources.

Khanna November 7
A team of the health department officials, in a raid conducted today, seized medicines manufactured by an unauthorised company.

Drug inspector, Parneet Kaur, said 690 tablets of medicine Keneflox-200 (Ofloxacin 200 mg) and 2,740 Tablets Ciproken-500 (Ciprofloxacin-500mg) were seized from a wholesale dealer on Samadhi road in Khanna.

The medicines had been manufactured by a company in District Solan (Himachal Pradesh) and marketed by a company from Mumbai, said the drug inspector. She added that the drugs were seized during a special checking of the drug stores in the city.

She explained that the sealed medicines have been manufactured by a company having no license to manufacture drugs, as per information from the Drug Licensing Authority, Solan (HP). She added that the action would be taken as per directions of the higher authorities.

PD Bansal President Lok Sewa Club, Khanna, accompanying the team said that the club had written to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare India to take appropriate action to stop the selling of the illegal medicines in the entire country and to take legal action towards the defaulters. Dr. Jorawar Singh and Baldev Sharma were also with the team. — OC

Mandi Ahmedgarh, Nov 7
The Dehlon police has nabbed a member of a gang of drug peddlers and has claimed to seize a rich haul of pharmaceutical preparations here yesterday.

The accused was identified as Gurpreet Singh, alias Jolly of Mehma Singh Wala, in Ludhiana district.

The Assistant Commissioner of Police, Gill Gurpreet Singh Sikand, said the police team led by SHO, Dehlon, Amandeep Singh Brar, arrested the accused when he was on his way to supply a consignment of habit-forming drugs to his customers, whose identity has not yet been established.

The police stopped a motorcycle he was riding on (PB 10 D E 8306) at the Sayana chowk on the Ludhiana Malerkotla road and became suspicious when he tried to flee.

A bag containing contrabands was recovered from his possession. The bag contained 3,500 tablets of Lomotil and 100 bottles of Rescof.

Investigations revealed that the accused was involved in drug trafficking for a long time but could not be caught because of his novel modus operandi.

Instead of transporting the drugs through four-wheelers he along with his accomplice used to move on motorcycle and in auto-rickshaw. At times, when the police was on high alert, the accused used to get the supply at his place at a little higher price, and would charged extra to by supplying it to his customers at their places of residence. Students, labourers and elderly persons were among his customers.