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Two arrested with 1 kg heroin
2 undertrials booked for possessing drugs, another for escape bid
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MC collects Rs 62,000 from house tax defaulters
Uprooted Ghee Mandi shopkeepers restart business in area
Plan to revive tourism police in holy city
Consultation fee worth crores, projects don’t move
First-Aid Day observed
Garbage collection virtually collapses as civic
agencies fail to coordinate
Dilkiran Kaur tops in tourism management
Neelam Kamra, principal, BBK DAV College for Women, with students Dilkiran Kaur, Rupali Malhotra and Sandeep Kaur in Amritsar on Thursday. A Tribune photograph
Himansh and Kabir in AITA tourney final
No concrete measures to ensure safety of tourists in city
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Two arrested with 1 kg heroin
Amritsar, September 12 Jatinder Singh Aulakh, Police Commissioner, said the Sadar police nabbed Ripudaman Singh of Preet Vihar and Balwinder Singh, alias Bal Fukra, resident of Palah Sahib road, and seized 1 kg of heroin from them. He said the city police received a tip-off that Ripudaman Singh and Balwinder Singh used to sell heroin in various parts of the city. They used to procure it from two notorious Indian smugglers Balwinder Singh, alias Chairman, alias Sarpanch, and his cousin Kala, both residents of border Havelian village, Tarn Taran. A raid was conducted on their shop, located on the Ajnala road, and 500 gm of heroin was recovered from each. The two used to work as property dealers. Preliminary investigations revealed that Ripudaman Singh and Balwinder Singh had been in the illegal trade for the past two years and had procured about 10 kg of heroin from the two smugglers so far. He said smugglers Balwinder Singh and Kala had also been named in the case and raids were being conducted to nab them, while further investigations were under progress. Meanwhile, he said the police also arrested Manjit Singh of Meera Kot and Pankaj of Meera Kot Kalan for allegedly possessing 1 kg of narcotic powder. The Police Commissioner said the police team recovered 600 gm of narcotic powder from Manjit and 500 gm from Pankaj. Meanwhile, the city police has nabbed as many as 15 persons, including a woman, for allegedly possessing habit-forming drugs and illicit liquor in separate instances in various parts of the city.
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2 undertrials booked for possessing drugs, another for escape bid
Amritsar, September 12 According to information, undertrials Pardip Kumar and Sandip Singh were booked under the NDPS Act and Prisoners Act. Deputy Superintendent of Amritsar Central Jail RK Sharma said Pardip Kumar, alias Sanjiv Kumar, resident of Dam Ganj area, but lodged in the jail, was caught with 19.6 gm of heroin-like substance during a raid conducted on his barrack, whereas Sandip Singh possessed 3.5 gm of intoxicant material. Cases have been registered against them at the Cantonment police station. Both would be put on production warrants to interrogate from where did they manage to sneak drugs into the jail. In yet another instance, an undertrial, Inderjit Singh, tried to escape from the police vehicle while he was being taken back to jail after a court hearing, but he was caught. According to ASI Gurbhej Singh of the Court Complex police post, when Inderjit Singh was being escorted to the vehicle, he tried to run away, but was overpowered by the guards accompanying him. A case under Section 224 of the IPC was registered against him at the Civil Lines police station.
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MC collects Rs 62,000 from house tax defaulters
Amritsar, September 12 The team, comprising Inspector Pardeep Vermani and clerk Narinder Singh, had targeted six properties today, out of which five paid the tax amount on the spot after finding a dholi (drummer) approaching their localities. As soon as the team reached in the offenders' localities with a dholi (drummer), a man present in his general store Bihari Lal Hira Lal tried to dodge the team, but in vain. Even as he vanished from the scene after partially closing the shutter of his shop, but the MC team sealed it after he did not turn up. Superintendent Subhash Chopra said the shop was sealed as there was Rs 11,000 house tax pending against the owner. Earlier, the team visited the Lahori Gate, Hargobindpura, Katra Karam Singh and Bhai Sant Singh areas with the "dholi' beating a drum. The defaulters voluntarily paid the dues on the spot before getting embarrassed publicly. Besides this, the team also visited several areas for a prior announcement to deposit the taxes on time. These localities included the Gate Hakima, Bazar Bhagtanwala, Gate Bhaktanwala, Gobindpura and inside Lahori Gate areas. "We had identified the defaulting properties, which were located in these localities. They owners, too, have been warned today through drum beats so that they should voluntarily clear their dues, otherwise should get ready to face the shame," Superintendent Subhash Chopra said.
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Uprooted Ghee Mandi shopkeepers restart business in area
Amritsar, September 12 A shopkeeper, Billa, is operating his tea and cold drink shop from 3-ft long shop, which was 23-ft long before the start of the demolition for road widening. “I have to support a family of six and cannot afford to sit back waiting for help to arrive. The court has given three months to the district administration to rehabilitate the uprooted shopkeepers.” He has put a refrigerator in the shop to sell cold drinks, a small stove with LPG refill to serve hot tea and net hangings containing a variety of packaged chips and other snacks. “Limited space means I can place only certain number of items. It is showing impact on customers as their number is decreasing. They prefer to skip my shop expecting more variety at more spacious shops,”, he rued. Ahuja Confectionery shop owner Kullu said the area of his shop had shrunk so much that it was difficult to earn sustainable earning. “Once over 20-ft long shops now stands merely 3-ft long. (Pointing to his tiny shop) Can this much space accommodate enough material to attract customers?”, he remarked. He added that there were many shopkeepers like him who were left with 3 to 6 ft-long shops. He felt that they had to now look for those trades which required least space and could hold interest of customers. Another trader Tarun Aggarwal said piles of demolished structures were lying on the ground, while occasional showers add to the traders woes. The area was fast turning into a breeding ground for mosquitoes. He added that about two months had lapsed since the demolition of structures along the road from Jallianwala Bagh to Ghee Mandi, but the lifting of debris was slow while laying of concrete road was nowhere in sight. In 1998 the administration had conceptualised the Jallianwala Bagh road-widening scheme under the Damage Area Act-1951. The 1.5-km road stretch is to be widened up to 40 feet so as to ease traffic congestion on the way to the Golden Temple. Sometime back, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had also questioned the delay in the project. Incidentally, the project will not affect the owners as they received the cost of their properties, while tenants had been left to fend for themselves.
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Plan to revive tourism police in holy city
Amritsar, September 12 Two recent instances of tourists being targeted by anti-social elements have brought back the focus on having a dedicated force for helping the tourists, especially foreigners. "I will examine the earlier set-up before issuing necessary instructions required for boosting the tourism police," said Jatinder Singh Aulakh, Police Commissioner. The major hurdle which the tourism police faced earlier was that they used to find it difficult to converse in English with foreigners. While admitting this, Aulakh pointed out that recently there were new recruitment of young girls and boys in the department and they could be trained for conversation in English. The young Denmark national came to Amritsar regarding some research work. As soon as she alighted from train and crossed the road through footbridge to reach her hotel, an auto-rickshaw driver, identified as Vicky, sexually harassed her. The victim was so frightened after the incident that she left for Delhi just a day after. Though the police had arrested the accused within 12-hours, it brought a bad name to the holy city. Just a day after this incident, Uttrakhand residents were allegedly assaulted by several youths near the Hathi Gate. Meanwhile, answering a query from mediapersons about installation of CCTV cameras in various parts of the city in order to keep a tab on rising crime and traffic violations, he said the survey to identify the intersections was in final stages. He said earlier the police had identified around 70 points, but now the company, hired for the survey, had identified about 400 points in the city.
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Consultation fee worth crores, projects don’t move
Amritsar, September 12 City bus service City bus service, the much-publicised public transport system conceptualised around seven years ago for the holy city, has failed to take off, courtesy official rigmarole and absence of policymaking on the part of the government and the authorities concerned. Replying to a query under the RTI Act, the Municipal Corporation has admitted to have received Rs 11.66 crore (Rs 8.33 crore from the Centre under the JNNURM programme and Rs 3.33 crore from the state government). The MC has spent over Rs 7.28 lakh on consultation and Rs 12.57 lakh on advertisements for the project but it is yet to see the light of day. Ironically, the MC authorities were confident to kick start the service before the end of this year and modalities are being framed on the pattern of Ludhiana. An amount of Rs 33 crore has been sanctioned for the project, out of which Rs 11 crore was received by the MC. Sewerage revamping, augmentation
The Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board (PWSSB), in collaboration with Japan International Corporation Agency (JAICA), has undertaken the work to rejuvenate the existing sewerage under the JNNURM programme but sources say it would take another two years to make it fully functional. One-fourth of the population in Amritsar city is deprived of proper sewerage. JAICA was engaged after bearing a consultation fee of US $7 lakh in 2005 for executing the augmentation and revamping the sewerage project at an estimated to cost of Rs 360 crore (initial estimate). According to a pact, a major part of this amount (Rs 276 crore) was being financed by JAICA (as loan) whereas the rest of the amount was to be borne jointly by the Punjab government and the Amritsar MC. The amount has be paid back to the firm with interest from 2015-16. But after an inordinate delay of almost six years, the first phase of the project (Rs 80-crore) was started from Guru Ki Wadali area in July 2011. But this delay resulted in raising the project cost. The revised cost of the project now is estimated to be over Rs 450 crore for sewage lines spread in an area of over 870 km. Residents living in localities along this drain have been complaining of insanitary conditions, stench resulting into water-borne diseases. Areas such as Sultanwind, Jawaharnagar, Mustafabad, Kundian Wala Khuh, Havelian, Karampura, Faizpura, Dhupai, Bhagtanwala, Gilwali Gate, Anngarh, Mohkampura, Daburgi, Rasulpur Kallar, Rose Nagar and Indira Colony on the Batala Road (near Verka) are crying
for attention. The already congested lanes in the walled city have become narrower as several parts of the streets have been dug up at several points to lay sewage pipes. Inadequate capacity of the existing network leads to overflow of sullage. Consequently, the piles of earth rubbles choke the drains. The slippery roads further lead to many accidents. At Katra Mit Singh Hansli wali Gali, Katra Jaimal Singh, the residents and traders have to brave sewage outflow spilling out from the faulty sewage lines. Traders rue that due to a collapsing sewerage, water remains stagnated opposite to their shops which hampers their business. Other affected areas are Lohgarh, Kot Atma Ram, Katra Alhuwalia area, Katra Baghian, Katra Bhai Sant Singh, Bombay Wala Khu, Chhati Khui, Namak Mandi, Gali Chhajju, Guru Bazaar Pratap Bazaar, Cheel Mandi, Ghantagarh and Haveli Zamadara. Municipal Commissioner DPS Kharbanda said, "Development comes at a price. So the residents would have to bear some inconvenience. The consultation fee given to the experts does not matter when it comes to executing multi-crore lifelong projects in the larger interest of the general public. The city bus service would be started within four months and the new sewerage revamping project too would ensure better disposal of sewage."
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Amritsar, September 12 Bhavan's students shared their experiences with the students of PD Kumar Memorial Gyandeep School, an evening school for the underprivileged children run by the Bhavan’s management. Urvashi, Deepanshi, Muskan, Gourvi, and Aarushi of Class IX of Bhavan’s SL Public School, also active members of the Red Cross Society, gave valuable tips on first-aid to 219 Gyandeep School students. They gave tips on snake bite, nose bleeding, breakage of bone. City lad selected for int'l abacus event
Krishnam Mehra, a student of Step by Step High School, has been selected for the International Abacus Competition to be held in Malaysia. He participated in the 9th national-level Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Competition 2013 held in Mumbai. —TNS
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Garbage collection virtually collapses as civic
agencies fail to coordinate
Amritsar, September 12 Private players engaged by the MC for garbage collection refrain from collecting refuse from areas falling under the jurisdiction of the Amritsar Improvement Trust. One such spot is Nehru Shopping complex where garbage heaps can be spotted even in the parking lots. In the absence of garbage lifting, sweepers resort to burning of garbage on the roadside or in bins. Last year, A Honda City car caught fire from a burning trash when it was parked in a parking lot nearby. The occupant of the car did not realise that there was a burning garbage heap alongside. The Nehru Shopping Complex and the Ranjit Avenue complex, projected as the replica of Sector 17 shopping arcade in Chandigarh, portray a picture of neglect due sheer lack of maintenance. Huge mounds of garbage, broken roads and Congress grass are seen at the back of the Ranjit Avenue complex. Things become even worse during the rains when huge pits are not visible and cause accidents causing fatalities, especially those riding two-wheelers. Authorities too have been indulging in the blame. The AIT says it's the responsibility of the Municipal Corporation to clean up the garbage. AMC officials, on the other hand, maintain that it was the entire responsibility of the AIT for execution and maintenance of the complex since it was their (AIT) project. The trolley operators say they have been told to pick the garbage from the main roads only while they share no responsibility in clearing the heaps lying inside the shopping complexes. Municipal Commissioner DPS Kharbanda said, "It is certainly not the matter of division of areas whether it comes under us or the Improvement Trust. There might remain some lapse in the route map of garbage collection trolley. I am going to direct the official concerned to revise it and clean up the areas on priority basis."
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Dilkiran Kaur tops in tourism management
Amritsar, September 12 BBK DAV College for Women principal Neelam Kamra said the college had been pioneer in starting the master's in tourism management programme at postgraduate level as it has great employment opportunities in various sectors like travel agencies, hotels, airlines etc.
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Himansh and Kabir in AITA tourney final Amritsar, September 12 Main Draw Semi Final: Boys Under- 14 1 Kabir Manrai (chd) beat Arvind Sunder (Kar) 6-1, 6-1. 2. Himanshu Mor (Har) beat Drona Walia (uk) 6-0, 6-3. Boys Under-12 1. Eshaan Lumba (Mah) beat Neel Garud (Mah) 6-3, 6-2. 2. Arvind Sunder (Kar) beat Drona Walia (UK) 6-3, 7-5. Girls under - 14 1. Sarah Dev (Pb) beat Panya Bhala (MP) 6-1, 6-0. 2. Rashmika (AP) beat Alisha Menon (Pb) 6-5, 5-6, 6-4.
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No concrete measures to ensure safety of tourists in city
Amritsar, September 12 Ironically, the state government has been doling out crores to develop various projects of historic significance to prolong the stay of tourists in the city. "The Amritsar Tourism Police (ATP) was launched with much fanfare about five-and-a-half years ago. But the concept seems to have disappeared into oblivion with only signboards and kiosks reminding about its existence at places of tourist interest in the city," said hotelier APS Chatha. Members of the tourism police are supposed to assist the tourists arriving at the Golden Temple, Attari border, railway station, airport and bus terminal round-the-clock. But there is no mechanism through which the tourism police could be distinguished from the rest of the policemen which could avail help to visitors here. It will be of no consequence unless the tourism cops wear a different set of uniform or have badges on their shoulders so the tourists could comfortably approach them. A visit to the Golden Temple and Jallianwala Bagh revealed that a couple from Argentina was seen haggling for fares with auto-rickshaw drivers and rickshaw pullers even as a bunch of policemen were standing nearby. The tourism cops are also expected to be present at vital tourist places like malls, clubs, etc, to protect visitors from pickpockets, eve-teasing, molestation and drugging. Mitchelle, a tourist from New Zealand, said she learned that a Danish woman was sexually assaulted on a city road. She said tourists, especially the foreigners, are soft target for criminals. Hence, they are advised to travel in groups and avoid solitary locations. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had launched the Amritsar Tourism Police on January 31, 2008. A 30-member squad of the tourism police was kept reserved to protect tourists from harassment and even help them in hiring transportation and lodging services. Its officers, rank and file were said to have been carefully picked up keeping orientation and work requirements in mind.
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The city police claimed to have arrested four persons involved in drug peddling and recovered 1 kg of heroin worth Rs 5 crore in the international market and 1 kg of narcotic powder from their possession.
Two undertrials lodged in Amritsar Central Jail were booked for possessing drugs, while another undertrial was booked for attempting to escape from the police custody today.
Continuing its rigorous campaign against the tax defaulters, a Municipal Corporation (MC) team, led by House Tax Superintendent Subhash Chopra, today collected Rs 62,000 from defaulters and sealed a shop located in Katra Bhai Sant Singh for non-clearance of dues.
Amritsar, September 12
Amritsar, September 12
Dilkiran Kaur of BBK DAV College for Women stood first in the master's in tourism management
(MTM) semester-IV in Guru Nanak Dev university. She secured 82 per cent marks. Rupali Malhotra stood second in the university with 81 per cent marks and Sandeep Kaur stood third with 75.5 per cent marks.
