Amritsar, August 23
The Amritsar Municipal Corporation on Friday formulated the bylaws making 
rainwater harvesting compulsory while erecting buildings, both residential and commercial.

A refundable security amount of Rs 20,000 would be charged from a residential unit while a commercial establishment will be charged Rs 50,000 before sanctioning the construction plan.

The amount would be refundable during the issuing of completion certificate after verifying that the owners of the property in question have installed recharging wells in their respective units.

Municipal Commissioner DPS Kharbanda and Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora today launched a rainwater harvesting unit from the MC's Town Hall building located in the old walled city.

A flood-like situation emerges in the city during the rainy season as rainwater falling on the roofs of all private and public buildings flows directly to the roads.

The city does not have enough open spaces such as ponds where rainwater can flow. Rainwater in large quantities flows into the sewerage as there is no storm water drainage provision in the city. Sewerage pipes, too, remain blocked due to the garbage and it take hours to clear the road even after mild showers thus throwing the life out of gear in the city. Incorporating rainwater harvesting facility is compulsory for all buildings over 200 square metres. If the building owners do not comply with the guidelines, the MC has power to cancel the design under Section 264 of the Building Bylaws.

Ironically, most of the government buildings do not use rainwater harvesting technique to recharge groundwater. The elevated road on GT Road is the only structure which has used the technique. However, the system became defunct after the storm water pipes and equipment that had been laid beneath the incline were stolen.

Excessive exploitation of groundwater is a major reason for the acute drinking water shortage in cities, where dependence on groundwater has increased sharply. With this, the rate of groundwater recharge has taken a plunge. The reason is that more and more areas in cities are coming under construction for erecting residential or commercial buildings, laying roads and pavements. This leaves little open space for the rainwater to seep in to replenish the groundwater reserves.

Initially, water supply in the walled city was based on a network of 40 wells located outside the city through which water was extracted and supplied through a well-designed and properly laid down network. Over a period of time, a number of tubewells have been installed to extract groundwater and meet the increased need of water.

This has resulted in a rapidly declining water table in the range of 180 to 460 feet. With the fast depletion of groundwater, shallow tubewells used for water extraction have to be abandoned.

The simplest way to tap rainwater is through rooftop harvesting. For this, one needs to channelise water to a storage tank which could be three feet deep. This water can be used for irrigation and domestic purpose, whereby the surplus water can be used to recharge the groundwater through a filtered pipe fitted deep into the ground.

Municipal Commissioner DPS Kharbanda said, "Rainwater harvesting was urgently required here. At present, groundwater table is receding at the rate of 50 centimetre every year. We have also chalked out programmes to sensitise the schools, offices, besides residential and commercial establishments to make adequate provision for rainwater harvesting units. There are several methods of storing rainwater. It requires a perforated pipe fitted with a filter to fix in a 70-foot deep bore. The clean water then travels down. A rough estimated cost of it is around Rs 19,250."

Amritsar, August 23
The Health Department today sealed a diagnostic centre located in Putlighar area for allegedly conducting sex determination test.

Civil Surgeon Dr Yash Mitra in a statement issued here today said a local private maternity hospital informed the Health Department that it received a patient, Amritpal Kaur, who was three-month pregnant. She got aborted her foetus from a village midwife after which her condition deteriorated due to profuse bleeding and later got admitted to the hospital.

He said a medical team was constituted which investigated the matter. During the probe, it was found that the said woman had got the sex determination test conducted from the American Diagnostic Centre in Putlighar.

Since she already had a girl child, they later got the foetus aborted with the help of a midwife. The Health Department got a case registered under Section 20 (1, 2, 5, 6) of the the PCPNDT Act against thecentre. The centre has been sealed after its registration was cancelled.

Amritsar, August 23
The Punjab government has announced to provide 12,626 bicycles free of cost to the girl students of Class XI and XII in Amritsar district under the Mai Bhago Vidya Scheme.

Revenue, Non-Conventional Energy & Public Relations Minister Bikram Singh Majithia said the formalities have been completed by the Department of Social Securities in this regard.

“It will be done within two months as the list of beneficiaries has already been submitted with the Education Department,” he said.

A total of 1,52,330 bicycles would be distributed in the state during the current financial year and the Punjab government has set aside Rs 47 crore for the scheme.

In Amritsar district, as many as 6,746 bicycles would be distributed to Class XI girl students and 5,880 to Class XII girls this year.

The Mai Bhago Vidya Scheme was launched in 2011-12 and 1,11,049 girls studying in government schools were benefited under this Scheme the same year in the state. Under the scheme, a sum of Rs 1.88 crore were spent on providing bicycles to 6,984 girl students of Class XI and XII in 2011-12 in Amritsar district.

Majithia said the scheme was launched with the personal efforts of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to promote girl education in the state and to reduce the school dropout rate among girl students. “The dropout rate of girl students has decreased considerably. The Punjab government has decided to extend the scheme and the girls studying in Class IX and X would also be covered under this in future,” the minister said.

Amritsar, August 23
Taking cognisance of the disused dumpsite still being used for garbage disposal and de-skinning of dead animals near CKD International Nursing College, Chabhal Road, the process of removing the waste was started today by the MC here.

Municipal Commissioner DPS Kharbanda was present on the spot to supervise the drive.

He was accompanied by MC Health Officer Dr Yogesh Arora. Members of the Chief Khalsa Diwan (CKD) had come out in the open against the MC authorities for their slipshod attitude towards resolving the awful conditions prevailing in the college vicinity.

The site was declared as a ‘disused dump yard’ after a chunk of land was alternatively designated for the purpose at Bhaktanwala. But the miscreants started using the site for de-skinning dead animals and dumping the refuse. Surprisingly, the police never acted against the violators. Subsequently, the place had also become a hideout for drug addicts and looters at night.

CKD had given a 10-day ultimatum to the MC authorities on August 19 to clear the site of garbage and also stop the practice of de-skinning of dead animals or it would approach court.

Kharbanda visited the college laboratories and classrooms took an overview of the situation.

CKD president Charanjit Singh Chadha urged Kharbanda that the chunk of land could be adopted by the CKD if the authorities permitted them to do so.

“We wish to transform this chunk of land into an amusement park for leisure with fine landscaping,” he said.

Nirmal Singh, Santokh Singh Sethi, SNS Khurana,Pritpal Singh Sethi, SS Walia and Darshan Sohi were among those present.

Amritsar, August 23
The Land Acquisition Department has issued eviction notices to the 68 occupants of Dashnami Akhara inside the Durgiana Temple complex as part of the shrine's beautification plan which took off in 2007.

The residents have been given September 4 deadline to vacate the premises. The Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT) is carrying out the beautification work.

Land Acquisition Collector Pradeep Sabharwal said the occupants had been served notices and the eligible tenants could approach his office to get their claims. He made it clear that only those tenants with valid 'kiraynama' (tenant documents) and have raised structures would be compensated by the government and not merely the occupants. He appealed to the tenants approach his office with their bona fide residential proofs like ration card, voter identity card and electricity bill.

About the exact compensation to be paid to eligible tenants, Sabharwal said this had been worked out by the officials of the PWD (B&R) department and they would be paid accordingly.

Sanjay Gir, who claims himself to be the mahant of Dashnami Akhara, said the akhara has over 2,725 square yards of land. Of this, the department acquired 1,075 square yards about a year ago, he said, adding that the remaining over 1,650 square yards of land had the akhara building, a Shiv Ganga temple and about 70 families are residing over there. He said these tenants were paying a monthly rent ranging between Rs 40 and Rs 400.

Majority of the tenants are migrants who are engaged in construction-related works.

Hardev, a resident, said his father came from Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh here about 25 years back. He said now five members of his family were living here. "Fear of eviction has gripped the residents and without rehabilitation they would not manage to get accommodation within the city at such low rates," he said.

"The compensation amount was announced in May 2008. The tenants who have constructed structures in their places, too, have been invited to claim compensation subject to the condition that the landlord certifies his or her claim," said Sabharwal.

The cost of the project, notified in 2007 by the Amritsar Improvement Trust, rose from Rs 36 crore to Rs 50 crore following delays due to various reasons.

It has been learnt that the owners of the residential area are being paid compensation amount calculated at an approximate rate of Rs 18,000 per square yard. On the same pattern, the proprietors of commercial space are being compensated at about Rs 60,000 per square yard.

The AIT would beautify about 3.03 acres of land around Durgiana Temple by raising an auditorium, open air theatre, "joda ghar" and information centre besides a four-storeyed parking lot to accommodate about 400 cars and over 150 two-wheelers. Over 70 per cent of the land would be an open area which would have a green belt.

About Rs 28 crore was kept aside as compensation for the acquisition of the whole chunk of land and Rs 22 crore would be spent on raising the infrastructure.

Amritsar, August 23
The Anti-Narcotic Cell of the Border Range Police seized 5 kg of heroin worth Rs 25 crore smuggled from Pakistan. Two persons were arrested in this connection.

The accused have been identified as Ranjit Singh, alias Rana, and his brother Amarjit Singh, both residents of Daoke village.

The police said the two were arrested during a naka. The police intercepted their car (bearing number PB-02-BP-6906) and during search contraband wrapped in polythene was found in their possession.

Amarjit Singh is reportedly handicapped. Though the accused have no case registered against them earlier, the police is investigating whether they are in trade for long, said DSP Attari, Sukhwinder Singh.

It is pertinent to mention here that due to its proximity with the international border, the village is a hotbed of the smuggling of narcotics.

Probe revealed that the accused received the consignment five days ago from the Daoke border outpost.

Amritsar, August 23
Following a complaint submitted by the MC, the police teams today swung into action and raided several hotels and inns in the vicinity of the Golden Temple and collected their records.

Taking cognizance of the hotels and inns being operated illegally, the MC had yesterday submitted a list of 15 hotels with the police department and asked them to register an FIR against their owners who defied the Sarai Act, applicable in the area.

SHO, C-Division, Jarnail Singh said apart from the hotels pointed out by the MC, the records of several other hotels were scrutinized.

“It was a routine practice and would continue at random. We would be conducting securitization of records before initiating any action. The drive was to see whether they defy the Sarai Act or not” he added.

The area around the Golden Temple, being the oldest part of the city, comes under the Sarai Act, which makes the provision for adequate parking lot, to obtain NOC from the fire department and environment clearance from the Punjab Pollution Control Board and other relevant NOCs mandatory for the commercial establishments.

Amritsar, August 23
Eco Amritsar has launched a green drive at Focal Point today. The industrial area has been the bane for its residents because of poor sanitation, said Eco Amritsar chairman, Gunbir Singh.

He said present rain offered an opportunity to plant saplings as it (rain) cleanses the soil, regenerates the aquifers, thereby checking the rampant fall in water table.

Many sites in town have been earmarked for plantation including the GT road from Jandiala to Amritsar, Idgah Sultanwind, Churches and graveyards besides private and institutional lands. Some plantations at gurdwaras have already been carried out. Durgiana Mandir committee has also agreed to launch a green drive. The idea is to ensure that these saplings are planted in protected areas for sustainable growth.

Industrial areas, due to their nature, are difficult to nurture as green zones, however experts in the field are carrying out the cleansing and plantation activity. Churning of the soil has to be done with the JCB's since there is a lot of industrial waste in the area.

Khudai khitmatgar has become a lead stakeholder in the area.

Gunbir said Freedom Industries is funding the project. Cooperation of Punjab State Industrial Export Corporation (PSIEC) and the Focal Point association has been readily forthcoming. A demonstration zone of about two acres has been defined, and shall be expanded with the collaboration of Focal Point constituents in a phased manner. The drive aims to increase the green cover in the area and to control groundwater depletion by planting trees.