Stagnant water after rain at Green Avenue in Amritsar on Tuesday

Amritsar, June 12
Is the city ready for the monsoon which is expected to reach the region by the first week of the next month? A few hours' isolated but intense rain last evening exposed the preparedness of the municipal corporation (MC), which claimed to have made all arrangements a month prior to the arrival of the monsoon.

Even as officials were quite confident to tackle this problem, several key locations spotted by The Tribune team yesterday, which were inundated with rainwater, proved the ineffectiveness of the de-silting plan of the MC.

Officials said old topography of the city, coupled with rising population, no enhancement in infrastructure, lack of civic sense among residents, encroachments in gullies pose as a hindrance in executing the de-silting drive in true letter and spirit.

The outer areas of the holy city, however, belied their claims. Dirty water pools, which act as breeding grounds for insects and flies, were spotted prominently at the entry and exit points near Alpha Mall. Even the Elevated Road, known as lifeline of the city, connecting the Amritsar-Jalandhar GT road, also witnessed waterlogging.

Almost all city roads got waterlogged due to the rain and there was no active mechanism to pump out the water, causing harassment to commuters.

There was floodlike situation around the under-construction flyover at the Kitchlew Chowk point, especially at the turning towards Mahindra Colony from the Court road. The situation was the same near New Rialto Chowk and the middle of the Madan Mohan Malviaya road. The mall road near the Novelty chowk point was filled with a pool of water. A lot of people in these areas got stranded in the middle of the flooded roads as their vehicles broke down.

There was a proposal to introduce super suckers by the MC during the last rains, but till date it, these have not been seen. The MC, in June last year, had carried out a 51-day special desilting drive, but no such programme is on the agenda of the MC till date. The moot point was that the level of roads could not be checked and desilting has not been done to clear the drainage passage.

Shopkeepers on the Mall road and Madan Mohan Malviya road resented that these conditions have hampered their business while exposing them to various diseases.

The plight of the residents and traders of the walled city area can be anybody’s guess, as it still has the same obsolete British era sewerage system.

The dirty water pools, which act as breeding grounds for insects and flies, were spotted prominently at the entry and exit points near Alpha Mall, in posh areas like Ranjit Avenue, Lawrence Road, Crystal Chowk.

Residents also complained of knee-deep water in other areas like Sultanwind, Jawaharnagar, Mustafabad, Kundian Wala Khuh, Havelian, Karampura, Faizpura, Dhupai, Bhagtanwala (outside), Gilwali gate, Anngarh, Mohkampura, Rasulpur Kallar and Indira Colony on the Batala Road (near Verka).

Another reason for waterlogging is stated to be the increasing concretisation. With pavements and medians along the road laid with paver blocks, surface run-offs increase. Instead of water being absorbed by the ground, it flows on to the roads. The MC has time and again mulled the idea of having permeable tiles on pavements, but it has still not been done.

Amritsar, June 12
In view of the summer season, the health department has requested the Municipal Corporation (MC) officials to get fogging done in the city areas to check the breeding of mosquitoes.

It has also asked the MC to fix the leaking sewerage and water supply pipes, as the places where the water accumulate provide a breeding ground to the mosquitoes. The department officials said they had so far reports about six malaria cases but no dengue cases.

District epidemiologist officer Dr Charanjit Singh said stagnant water helps in the breeding of mosquitoes and efforts were on to eliminate such places. He said MC officials had been asked to undertake measures to help control the growth of mosquitoes.

He said the Roadways department had also been asked not to throw waste vehicles tyres in the open. "The water might get collected in them and mosquitoes might breed there," he said.

He said 47 laboratories to diagnose malaria were working in the city.

Besides, 15 anti-larva teams had been constituted to keep an eye on the situation.

"Each team has two field workers, besides a multi-purpose health worker. Their duty was to visit the areas to identify places where water is stagnant and spray anti-larva medicines," said Singh.

He said besides the slides of people suffering from fever were being prepared and sent for testing regularly. He said around 10,6640 slides had been prepared so far.

The health department has also advised people to change water in air-coolers at their homes every week, besides using mosquito repellents at night.

Amritsar, June 12
Five mobiles were recovered again from Amritsar Central Jail inmates during a surprise checking by the jail staff.

A case under Sections 420 of the IPC, 42, 52 (A) (1) of the Prisoner Act was registered against six inmates today.

Three mobiles were recovered from undertrials Lovjit Singh, son of Tajinder Singh, a resident of Khakh Tarn Taran, Dharminder Masih, son of Prem Masih, a resident of Jajje, Amritsar, and Ramesh Kumar, son of Anant Ram, a resident of 24/4 New Vijay Nagar, Jalandhar.

Similarly, two mobiles were recovered from undertrials Kamaldip Singh, son of Gurwinder Singh, a resident of Bakipur, Tarn Taran, Ranjit Singh, son of Major Singh, a resident of Jamastpur, Tarn Taran, and Navdeep Singh, son of Paramjit Singh, a resident of 2126 Gali No.2, Old Jawahar Nagar, Mehta Road, Amritsar

Deputy Superintendent of the Amritsar Central Jail RK Sharma said cases had been registered with the Cantonment police station in this regard.

Amritsar, June 12
Even as the real estate sector has witnessed a tremendous growth in this border town of late, those engaged as construction labourers in the sector are still getting a raw deal.

The realty boost, as a result of which a number of townships with plush houses sprung up, has hardly benefited the ones who practically make possible the work on these sites.

And unfortunately, their plight has not been heard either by the government, legislators or the local administration.

The Union government had enacted the ambitious Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act in 2008 for offering various social security benefits to the workers engaged in construction activities but its implementation remains 
a far cry here. Besides, 
the Punjab government enacted the Punjab Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board in 2002.

The Labour Department here has so far registered only 6,500 beneficiaries (labourers) of various schemes run under these two.

Inderpal, general secretary (Punjab), National Centre for Labour (NCL), said after 2000 the border district underwent a construction boom and roughly over 1 lakh construction workers were involved in picking up bricks, masonry, whitewashing, plumbing, tile polishing and others.

Despite the rules and schemes for the welfare of this section being in place, the labourers are being deprived of social welfare benefits primarily due to lack of awareness.

Inderpal said the government had never made sincere efforts to reach out to this section so as to sensitise them about various schemes.

As per the schemes available with the Labour Department, a construction worker has to be a registered member of the Workers Welfare board by depositing a one-time Rs 25 and then monthly Rs 10. To become eligible for the scheme, he/she should have been working for three months.

A labourer registered with the Labour Department is eligible Rs 1 lakh insurance with medical claim of Rs 30,000 for not more than five family members (per person) for a year.

Other benefits include children of registered labourers will get Rs 150 monthly stipend from Class I to V, Rs 200 monthly stipend from Class VI to VIII, Rs 250 monthly stipend from Class IX to XII. In case a student studies in college, she will get stipend from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000. In case, they stay at hostel during college education they are entitled to get an annual stipend of Rs 50,000.

Advance for buying bicycle, computer, television and annual wheat loan are given to the labourers without interest.

Girl children get a grant of Rs 21,000 during the time of their marriage. Besides, these workers are eligible for a loan between Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000 without interest for the marriage of their daughters.

If a family member is afflicted with serious ailment like cancer, a grant of Rs 1 lakh is given for the treatment. During the course of work, if a labourer gets injured or physically handicapped then there is the provision of a grant between Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh, besides insurance.

A registered labour gets an annual sum between Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 for pilgrimage or outing.

Inderpal said even though the state government got a cess of one per cent for the construction of a building valued over Rs 10 lakh within the city, the benefit is not reaching the targeted workers. He said the similar cess must be applicable to the rural areas.

Amritsar, June 12
Even after a lapse of four days, the police is yet to trace the culprits who had kidnapped three-and-a-half-year-old Gurmilap Singh from the Golden Temple complex here.

Though the child was recovered a day later, the police department is yet to find any clue about the abductors who had committed the crime.

It is pertinent to mention here that the close circuit television (CCTV) footage captured in the Darbar Sahib revealed that a woman had kidnapped the boy from the Parikarma where he was sleeping along with his family. The accused was accompanied by four other persons, including a woman.

Sukhwinder Singh Randhawa, station house officer (SHO) of Kotwali police station, said they were yet to identify the accused involved in the kidnapping.

Amritsar, June 12
Mystery shrouds the kidnapping of a four-year-old girl who went missing from Fatahpur area a couple of days back.

The police has now registered a kidnapping case against unknown persons in this connection.

Baljinder Singh, the victim's father and a resident of Patti Khursara in Fatahpur, told the police that his daughter Preet Kaur had gone out of the house to play at about 6 pm but did not return.

The police lodged a missing report following which a search operation was launched in the area. The police found the slippers of the missing girl but she could not be traced.

The police officials are also learnt to have carried out a door-to-door search operation in the area besides searching the houses located on the periphery of the village. Later a kidnapping case under Section 363, 366-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered in this regard.

Malwinder Singh, investigating officer, said there was no clue about the missing girl. Investigations were under progress from different angles, the investigating officer said.

This is the second instance in the recent past in which a child has been kidnapped here. Earlier, a three-and-a-half-year-old boy Gurmilap Singh was abducted from inside the Golden Temple premises.

Gurmilap, along with his family, had come to Darbar Sahib in the city for paying obeisance there. After the matter was highlighted in the media and a manhunt launched by the police, the kidnappers left him near a gurdwara a day after. However, the kidannppers have not been arrested so far.

Amritsar, June 12
About 100 buses are stranded for the past one-and-a-half month due to the indefinite strike by the drivers, conductors and mechanics of the Punbus Service Scheme of the state government as a result of which passengers are suffering.

The Punbus Employees Union president MS Sidhu said around 100 buses are standing in Amritsar alone and it has affected the services for the general public. The employees are protesting to get better pay and regular services.

Sidhu said the employees had not been regularised even as they had completed six years of service as contractual workers.

"The contractual system is exploiting the employees. While they are working more they are being paid less," Sidhu said.

He said the employees' salaries range between Rs 3,500 to Rs 5000, adding that they had decided to hold a state-level protest on June 17.

The passengers at the bus stand said that even as the government was required to add more buses to the fleet because of the rush, its existing fleet was not fully utilised.

Sarwan Singh, a passenger, said, "The government should find solutions to the problem as buses are overcrowded. Summer is not a good time to travel in crowded buses and passengers are facing the problem."

Kuljit Kaur, another passenger, said, "The government must improve the condition of buses and bus stops. Most of the commuters cannot afford private vehicles and public buses are the only mode of travelling for them."

She said the employees must end their strike at the earliest in view of the inconvenience caused to the general public. The employees will hold a protest outside the residence of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal at his village Badal on June 14, said Sidhu, adding that if the protest failed to move the government they would be forced to intensify the protest.

Amritsar, June 12
Even as Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal reviewed various development projects worth around Rs 1,668 crore for Amritsar at a high-level meeting in Chandigarh, many of these are running behind their deadline.

Fed up by the delays, the Deputy CM issued stern directions to the heads of various departments who attended the meeting.

Among these projects Golden Temple Entrance Plaza is a vital as its construction has curtailed the movement of pilgrims who come from across the country. The project has jumped the deadline many a time. Sukhbir said the construction of the plaza at the main entrance of the Golden Temple must be put on fast track and the construction agency should be asked to stick to the timeline as no delay beyond this Diwali would be acceptable.

It was informed in the meeting that certain projects like construction of the four-lane flyover at Kitchlu Chowk, popularly known as Court chowk, at the cost of Rs 18 crore, has also been delayed many a time.

Earlier, a scarce supply of construction material and delay in payments resulted in the stalling of the work. The under-construction site has become a source of harassment to commuters who have to take long route to reach the spot.

The multi-purpose sports stadium at Ranjit Avenue is still mired in its planning stage. It is learnt that Sukhbir has directed the Sports Secretary to review the plan to decide which sports disciplines are to be created. He has instructed to complete it by August this year.

Earlier, the original plan was amended by incorporating the international-level cricket stadium. The multi-purpose sports stadium was inaugurated by Sukhbir Badal before the previous Assembly election.

Beautification of Durgiana temple has been delayed by years and its cost has escalated by crores.

Jalandhar, June 12
With the number of aspirants for engineering courses on a decline over the years and as many as 16 universities across the state offering BTech courses, there seems to be a mad race among all of them to fill the seats.

Punjab Technical University (PTU) alone has nearly 46,841 seats in its 79 affiliated colleges, 24 integrated campuses and 12 evening shift colleges. The varsity has added two new colleges to its existing list of colleges, raising the total tally to 117 colleges. The state government has notified the Khalsa College of Engineering in Jalandhar and Radiant College in Amritsar for ongoing BTech admissions increasing the number of seats by nearly 700.

Guru Nanak Dev University Amritsar has also declared 1,330 seats, including those on its main campus and four regional campuses. Punjabi University Patiala, too, has 1,060 seats, while Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, only has 52 seats.

All the state universities are going for online counselling for courses being conducted by the PTU. The registration process, which has already started, will go up to June 25. The university is scheduled to wind up admission process by July 31, giving the colleges additional two weeks to fill the remaining seats at their own end.

Other than four state universities, there is one Central University in Bathinda, three deemed universities and as many as eight private universities. While most other universities have clearly defined seat matrix for all streams of engineering with reservation policy, the private universities do not make this mandatory disclosure on the web portal violating the norms laid down by the All-India Council for Technical Education.

The Centre or state-run universities have also been claiming that they have better qualified faculty, follow reservation policy, fee waiver schemes and adequate infrastructure as well as laboratory facilities in proportion to the student strength on their campuses, which they claim is not a case with private universities.

It is out of mad rush and competition among various universities that they have been adopting various means to attract students, including offering commission to staff per student for bringing in students, popularising their campuses by holding programmes in other states and even entering into foreign collaborations.

Dr Buta Singh, Dean, Academics, PTU, and in charge of centralised counselling, said the competition would be a big boon for the students who would have a lot of choice during admission. He said the state was even thinking of bringing in all private universities under the ambit of centralised counselling.