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Solid waste management
Info sought on ill-effects of mobile tower radiation
Closure of roads by traffic cops irks residents
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Despite HC orders, MC fails to act against hospitals
Maqsudan mandi turns into dumpyard
Villagers fight over cremation ground land
Ouster of PTU VC demanded
City hospital gets NABH-Safe-I accreditation for infection control
‘Find cause of increasing cancer cases in country’
Play organised at DAV College
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MC to cancel contract with Jindal Group
To enter into a new tie-up with A2Z Company, the second lowest bidder Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, February 25 A proposal in this regard has been put up in the agenda of the Finance and Contracts Committee (F&CC) which is to meet day after and take the final call on the issue. The corporation has taken a serious view of the matter, as the Jindal group-led JITF Urban Infrastructure Limited failed to initiate door-to-door lifting of garbage as part of the proposed first phase of the project and did not even show its interest to pursue it. The MC authorities are of the view that the second company which has been allotted the same work in Ludhiana is doing comparatively well and should be considered for awarding the project in Jalandhar as well. The agenda copy reads that the JITF had moved the court earlier against any move of the MC to encash the bank guarantee which now has been withdrawn. The company officials, too, have been called for the meeting to know their stand on the issue. The tender of the JITF had been approved earlier by the F&CC on July 27, 2011 and agreement had been made on January 24, 2012, with a deadline to start work on July 15, 2012. After the work did not start, the O&M officials made phone calls and sent emails to company officials for a meeting, but no one appeared. On August 28 last year, the company officials listed out some conditions, which ought to have been fulfilled by the MC. At this, the deadline was extended to November 5, 2012. When the work was not initiated again, the Mayor had convened a meeting with the company representatives, asking them to get the work expedited as the Punjab and Haryana High Court was monitoring the proceedings in the matter. The company officials had then also been warned of getting blacklisted. The MC officials claim to have done all efforts to furnish requirements from its side for the project, which include the identification of secondary waste lifting points, creating Rs 78 lakh tipping fund, appointment of independent engineers, allotting Rs 2 crore tender for the relaying of approach road and shifting of dairies by getting constructed new dairies at a cost of Rs 1.91 crore. Mayor Sunil Jyoti confirmed the plans and said that the F&CC would have the final take. Firm in Ludhiana to be considered
The MC authorities are of the view that the second company which has been allotted the same
work in Ludhiana is doing comparatively well and should be considered for awarding the project in Jalandhar as well x |
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Info sought on ill-effects of mobile tower radiation
Jalandhar, February 25 In his application filed under the RTI Act with the Public Information Officer (PIO) of Civil Hospital, Sanjay Sehgal has sought information regarding the harmful effects of electro-magnetic radiation on human body emerging from mobile cell towers. The RTI activist sought detailed information on whether electro-magnetic radiation emerging from mobile towers cause diseases like cancer, paralysis, blood clot in brain, brain tumour, digestive disorders, risk to patients using pacemakers, pregnant women, heart diseases and loss of memory. Sanjay Sehgal also sought information regarding the risks of living near mobile towers. The activist also wanted to know whether radiation emerging from mobile phones could cause serious diseases, including cancer and brain stroke. He is of the view that there are contradictory reports regarding the ill-effects of radiation caused by mobile towers and cell phones. There is a lot of confusion among the general public about the probable harmful effects of such types of radiation on human body. If proper information is provided to the RTI activist, the view of the Punjab Health Department on the ill-effects of radiation emerging from mobile towers and cell phones might be known to the public.
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Closure of roads by traffic cops irks residents
Jalandhar, February 25 The most affected are residents of areas falling around Wadala Chowk, Nakodar Chowk and other areas. They claimed that they were finding it extremely difficult to reach their houses. Even those visiting markets, including Model Town, from peripheral areas have had to face barricading at several points, including those on Bhagwan Parsuram Marg near Guru Gobind Singh Stadium. Said Anju Sharma, a resident of New Jawahar Nagar, “My daughter’s dance school is just five minutes away from my house. But I have had to take a longer route, taking to so many roads to send her off for the past three days. Even going to stadium for a walk or Model Town for shopping has been a hellish experience, with most roads closed.” Not just the local traffic, even the bus route between Nakodar and Jalandhar had been altered, with buses coming via Shahpur, Urban Estate Phase-II, Cool Road and bus stand. The same route is being followed while going back. “Since this route is longer and has many turns, a bus takes extra 15 minutes to reach the destination”, said Saurabh, an employee with a private firm in Jalandhar. While the MC took a major step this year by not allowing any hoardings at the non-designated sites and not allowing any defacement of the city, the traffic police, however, has remained soft so far. Sukhdev Singh, ADCP, Traffic, said he had got the Bhagwan Parsuram Marg closed only for buses. “I am not aware if it has been also closed for general traffic,” he quipped. |
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Despite HC orders, MC fails to act against hospitals
Jalandhar, February 25 Even as the orders are available on the official website of the court, the MC authorities claim to have not received any copy of the matter. A PIL on traffic problems arising out of parking by patients and visitors to the hospitals had been filed by Kamal Kumar Aggarwal of a Jalandhar-based Hindi daily, over which the court had asked the MC officials to take action within three months. The issue is of serious nature, as there are not just seven hospitals as named in the PIL, including Patel Hospital, Satyam Hospital, Bowry Medical Centre, Joshi Hospital, Vasal Hospital, Chhabra Hospital and Maternity Home, and Tagore Hospital and Heart Care without adequate parking provision. There are at least 200 other private hospitals in the city flouting the norms by using basement for purposes other than parking. The MC bylaws, however, do not allow basement for any use other than parking. Owing to such misuse of the space, it is the residents of the area around the hospitals who have to bear the brunt, as vehicles remain illegally parked in front of their gates the whole day through. There are hospitals falling on scheduled roads and even main roads, including Bhagwan Mahavir Marg, Nakodar Road, Kapurthala Road and Pathankot Road, where rows of cars and scooters remain parked outside hospitals, as heavy vehicles find it difficult to pass by. Commissioner Viney Bublani said he would check the orders on the web and ask officials of the building branch to get
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Maqsudan mandi turns into dumpyard
Jalandhar, February 25
The very approach to this market is through a rough, potholed road and it itself is a picture of apathy due to the lack of concern of the authorities. The trolleys, which ferry vegetables to the market, dump all the wastes here, giving way to heaps of garbage. Due to a lack of proper arrangement for the water drainage, water accumulating nearby has almost taken the shape of a sewage pond. Every day after the trolleys deliver fruits and vegetables and dump loads of leftover vegetable leaves, fruit peels etc in the mandi, there is no effective method to get it cleaned up. Sources say while a contract has been given to a private company to get the place cleaned, where at least 20 people should be responsible to clean the place, not even a dozen turn up. Rajinder Nagra, president of the Arhtiya Association, New Sabzi Mandi, said, "We have written to the District Mandi Officer many times and brought up the issue
of the insanitary conditions prevailing at the mandi. But so far, our requests have not been paid any heed to. We are doing what the government should
ideally be doing. Due to a dearth of safai karamcharis, our association is spending from its pocket and has hired six people
to clean the mandi. We also believe the money meant for the cleanliness of the mandi is not being used judiciously. Why
else would there be such Nagra added that while the mandi got Rs 2.5 crore from the government to fund salaries of the employees, the state of the mandi did not reflect that kind of money being spent on it. District Mandi Officer Harvinder Randhawa said, "The mandi is being regularly cleaned. Two latest machines have also been pressed to service to clear the garbage from the place." However, voicing his share of grievances, the DMO said, "We had asked the municipal corporation to let us dump the mandi's waste in the corporation dump but we have not been allowed to do that so we have to dump the waste in the mandi itself by digging trenches. That is one of the prime problems we are facing right now. We also need the co-ordination of the transporters of vegetables and the vendors. We have asked trolleys not to dump leftover leaves and peels at the mandi many times but the requests have gone unheard. The vendors also sometimes irresponsibly dump wastes here."
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Villagers fight over cremation ground land
Nakodar, February 25 Hussainpur residents alleged that few Giddarpindi residents had attempted to encroach upon the land of the funeral ground, but the allegations were denied by the Giddarpindi residents. Former Sarpanch Pritam Singh, lambardar Darbara Singh, Jasmeet Singh and Nanak Singh told mediapersons at the site that the cremation ground, measuring eight kanals, was the property of Hussainpur village. But three village residents gave five marlas from the cremation ground to Giddarpindi residents six months ago, at the behest of a local SAD leader. They alleged that Giddarpindi residents tried to encroach upon more land and also demolished a shed and boundary wall, against the wishes of Hussainpur residents. Nakodar SDM Jasbir Singh and SP (D) Rajinder Singh, along with civil and police officials and police force of Nakodar, Mehatpur, and Noormahal rushed to the spot. SDM Jasbir Singh said a marriage palace owner had promised and announced his ten marlas of land to Giddarpindi residents where a separate cremation ground would be constructed soon.
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Ouster of PTU VC demanded
Jalandhar, February 25 The Delhi Police registered an FIR under Sections 406, 420 and 120-B of the IPC against seven PTU officials, including Dr Arora, for cheating students by charging fees for distance education courses, without obtaining the mandatory approval from the Distance Education Council to run such courses in the national capital. In a statement, party general secretary Dr Manjinder Singh and its spokesperson Kanwar Pal Singh said Dr Arora should be placed under suspension till his name was not cleared by the court from all accusations as he was mired in a corruption case. They further said PTU was set up to fast-track education and to take advantage of the urgent need for technical hands in the country. But since inception the university’s approach to education, training, expansion of its base had been dubious. “Irregularities and malpractices have become the order of the day in PTU and Dr Arora was solely responsible for ruining the image of the institution”, they said.
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City hospital gets NABH-Safe-I accreditation for infection control
Jalandhar, February 25 The hospital is one of the first hospitals to get this certification in India, out of 21 hospitals undergoing the NABH-Safe-I accreditation programme, being conducted by NABH and BD. The certification programme has been rolled out in a phased manner in Punjab and Kerala since March 2012. Considering that infection control is an important cornerstone of safe healthcare delivery, NABH began the NABH-Safe-I in partnership with BD as the standard for improving patient safety by preventing infection within the premises of healthcare organisations. Under this programme, NABH recommends safe injection and infusion practices, biomedical waste management, healthcare workers safety and sterilisation and disinfection, to name a few. Dr Gayatri Mahindroo, Director-NABH, on the certification ceremony said, “NABH is making every effort to address the necessity to introduce quality assurance mechanisms in the healthcare system in India. We are glad that Tagore Hospital has been certified for this programme.” Receiving the certification, Dr Vijay Mahajan, CEO, Tagore Hospital said, “We are pleased to have received the certification, it will help us give quality healthcare to our patients.” NABH and BD had entered in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2012 to support hospitals in attaining quality standards for infection control. NABH-Safe-I certification is a precursor to preparing HCOs (healthcare organisations) or SHCOs (small healthcare organisations) for NABH accreditation. BD guides applicant hospitals toward NABH-Safe-I preparation and other relevant training and development workshops.
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‘Find cause of increasing cancer cases in country’
Phagwara, February 25 He said the incidence of cancer was increasing in the country and he had requested the UnionHealth Minister to constitute a team of experts to control the dreaded disease. Mittal added that the Health Department had conducted a survey which had proved to be useful to determine the number of cancer cases in Punjab. He said the state government would provide Rs 1.5 lakh for the treatment of each cancer patient in Punjab.
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From Schools and Colleges Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, February 25 Principal Dr BB Sharma gave his blessings to the students. Savita Jain was the Chief Guest of the function and Rakesh Jain was the Guest of Honour. Many old students of the college were awarded on the occasion. They included Manish Khanna from Canada, Dr Deepak Mahajan, Rajneesh Dev Sehajpal, Raj Kumar Shoor, Dr Neerja Dhingra, Sunil Tandon, Prof Loveleen Grover, Kulwant Singh, Sairu Kakkar, Dr Atul Mittal, Vishal Sharma, Amit Vinayak, Ramanpreet Kaur, Sanjeev Sharma, Prof Rajdeep Singh Dhaliwal, Sunal K Roamin, Amandeep Singh CA, Samrat Sharma and Praveen Parv. At the end, Seep Bajaj proposed the vote of thanks. Basant Bonanza Basant Bonanza, an annual fete, was organised by the students of the Kanya Maha Vidyalaya, Jalandhar. Chief Guest Chander Mohan, the president of the Arya Shiksha Mandal, was accorded floral felicitations by Principal Dr Atima Sharma. The guests had a look at the 30 stalls on display. Music presentation by singer Sarabjeet Cheema regaled the audiences. Mayor Rajendra and Dr Sushma Chawla took out the lucky draw and gave away the prizes to the audiences. The principal announced that the proceeds of the fete would be contributed to the poor students’ fund. Students’ reunion The first ever ‘reunion’ of the old students of Arya Model Senior Secondary School, Phagwara, was held at the school. Principal Neelam Pasricha said old students of the 1992 batch of class tenth and class twelfth students of 1994 attended the party. A few of the old students specially came from abroad to participate in the reunion to meet their old colleagues.
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