Jalandhar, February 9
The city, which is already facing traffic congestions and inadequate parking, is now witnessing violations of one-way traffic norms, causing a lot of commotion among commuters.

While the traffic police seems indifferent to the problem, the lack of civic sense shown by commuters is aggravating problems on roads in the city.

Presently, there are four one-ways in the city which are all congested, with vehicles coming from both ways most of the time. One is from Madan Flour Mill towards the city railway station. Although the traffic moving towards the flour mill can move on this road, to go back to the station, it has to use the other route via Bhagat Singh Chowk. Unfortunately, 80 per cent of the traffic is using the wrong way to come back to the railway station.

The second one-way is from BMC Chowk towards Sanjay Gandhi Market. But that junction is the most congested one even in the presence of the traffic police. The traffic coming from the main road and the one coming from the service lane from Hotel Raddison, all forms a bottleneck on the busy BMC Chowk, causing a lot of commotion for the traffic moving towards the Sanjay Gandhi market.

"We are facing a lot of difficulty due to this. So many times we have informed the cops posted here to challan and stop these vehicles moving in wrong lanes, but they keep on standing like mannequins," said Kirti Sachdeva, a government employee.

The third route for one-way traffic is the bus stand. The administration has made one-way passage to provide a safe and comfortable travelling experience to commuters. Many two-wheelers can be seen overtaking fast-moving buses coming down towards the bus stand, putting their life to great risk. Nearly 10 traffic cops standing at the point could be seen shouting at the violators, but unable to catch or challan them due to the lack of automatic cameras installed at the place and the non-availability of the challaning machines.

The fourth point is the Jail chowk which could be seen congested with traffic coming from Workshop Chowk and Jyoti Chowk. Although the traffic coming from Workshop Chowk and Patel Chowk can come directly on the one-way from Jail Chowk to Jyoti Chowk, the traffic going from Jyoti Chowk to Workshop Chowk has to take a diversion from the Lakshmi Narayan temple which, unfortunately, is not happening. Above all, encroachments on the narrow roads and the stopping of auto-rickshaws every now and then jams the traffic coming from behind.

"This is so irritating. Whenever we have to go from that route, it takes an extra hour, as the road is always congested due to heavy rush of vehicles. The most irritating part is the stopping of auto-rickshaws to pick and drop vehicles. Despite repeated horns, they do not budge. They should be challaned for this," said Manpreet Singh, a businessman.

Mohinder Singh, ACP (Traffic) said the situation was beyond control as most of the commuters lacked traffic sense. "We conduct so many awareness programmes for the public to inform them about the right way to move on roads, but they hardly drive following rules and regulations, putting their lives as well as of others in danger."

Earlier, the traffic police was lacking basic equipment like speedometers and alcoholmeters, but with the government sanctioning Rs 12.5 lakh to it to upgrade the infrastructure, the traffic cops would be able to regulate traffic moving in one-way zones.

Jalandhar, February 9
The ART centre at the local Civil Hospital is grossly understaffed. This is the second biggest centre in the state (after Amritsar), with around 7,000 registered patients, the maximum after the Amritsar centre. However, it has only one Senior Medical Officer posted in it.

It has 4,300 patients on medicine, out of whom 2,500 patients are regulars. The per-day OPD attendance at the centre is 100 to 200 (at times reaching 250 to 300 mark).

While the former SMO of the centre left on March 3, 2013, the then Medical Officer Dr Baldev Singh was made the SMO in August-end and currently serves in the same position.

Another doctor who joined the ART centre as MO in summer 2013, resigned on November 2013, and since then it is back to Dr Baldev Singh being the lone doctor at the centre again.

While NACO guidelines say that there should be at least two MOs and one Senior Medical Officer (SMO) to run an ART centre with more than 2,000 patients, this is not so at the centre for more than a year now. The ART centre also has only three counsellors instead of one and no institutional nurse (Civil Hospital staff nurses chip in for the post).

While the OPD attendance at the centre per day goes up to 200 to 300 patients sometimes, notably, there are at least five to 10 new patients reporting at the centre everyday, which caters to Jalandhar as well as Kapurthala, Nawanshahr, Hoshiarpur and even some patients from Amritsar and Ludhiana.

SMO Dr Baldev Singh, commenting on queries regarding the inconvenience caused to patients due to staff constraints, refused to comment.

The recent strikes by the contractual staff also saw the centre being in a fix owing to the already persistent problems and on top of it, patients being turned back due to the lack of proper testing and provision of medicines to new patients.

Given its patients’ strength, the centre also lacks other support staff.

While the Civil Surgeon and the PSACS officials are well aware of the problem, they haven’t bothered to address the issue.

Jalandhar, February 9
The Democratic Teachers Front (DTF), Punjab, held a meeting at Desh Bhagat Yadgaar Hall, here to announce that they will hold a state-level protest on February 18 to demand the release of the jailed teachers.

The state president of the front Bhupinder Singh Varaich and general secretary Devinder Singh Punia, in a press statement issued here today, said the jailing of teachers holding a peaceful agitation in Ludhiana for the regularisation of their services was unconstitutional.

DTF employees said since February 2 until now, the actions by the civil and police administration in Ludhiana were like an unannounced emergency.

They also said that the Education Minster’s statement on the death of a teacher’s daughter was insensitive even as he should have been sympathetic to the teachers.

Front leaders said the union teachers will hold an agitation on February 18 on issues including unconditional release of jailed teachers, regularisation of contractual teachers, removal of male teachers from girl schools, reverting lecturers and promotions of all groups of teachers.

They said if their demands were not agered to, they would intensify their protest.

State finance secretary Amarjit Shahtri, Gurmeet Kotli, Mandeep Singh Moga, Lakhvir Singh Muktsar, Karam Singh Kaourtahala, Dharam Singh Ludhiana and Rupinder Singh, among others were present on the occasion.

Jalandhar, February 9
Nearly after a year, a 22-year-old girl of Hargobind Nagar was brought back from Dharamshala by the Division Number 8 police today.

The mother of the girl had lodged a complaint after she had left home on February 27, 2013, but the police had failed to trace her as she had been reportedly changing her location and was putting up with her friends. The girl's mother had then filed a writ petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court last month after which the police officials swung into action.

SHO Vimal Kant had got the details of the missing girl published in various newspapers in the response of which he got a call saying the girl was seen in Shimla. "I went to see her at the location there but the girl who too had seen the advertisement had left the place. We then got information that she had moved to Dharamshala where I sent another police party. Finally, we managed to catch hold of her. We have produced her before duty magistrate Manish Garg and sent her to the State Protection Home since she said that she did not want to go back to her mother and sister," said the SHO. The SHO said he would produce her before the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday.

Jalandhar, February 9
Ahead of the Monday’s programme of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal to lay the foundation stone of the Elevated Road project on Kapurthala Road, the Shopkeepers Association, Basti Bawa Khel, yesterday protested against the project.

The shopkeepers said the project would cause severe damage to their businesses. Faqir Singh, member of the association, asked the government to build a four-lane road in the locality instead of an elevated one. The shopkeepers in the area said they were ready to provide 30 to 35 feet land for the purpose of widening the road. The members of the association also submitted a demand letter to Mayor Sunil Jyoti.

Meanwhile, RTI activist Anil Vashisht has drafted a memorandum to be submitted to Deputy CM demanding the dissolution of the MC House "for its inability to provide even the basic amenities to the residents". He has sought permission from the Deputy Commissioner and Commissioner of Police for presenting a copy of it to the Deputy CM. He has proposed that the job be, instead, entrusted to some other agency since the MC had failed to perform its duty so far. Safai karamcharis and the agitating traders, too, plan to meet the Deputy CM on the day to present the demands of their unions.

Partap Bagh developed by the residents of the area in Jalandhar. Tribune Photo: Malkiat Singh

The Jalandhar Municipal Corporation (JMC) is responsible for taking care of around 250 parks in the city. They have comparatively less gardeners to look after the parks.

Parks in deplorable state

A review of various parks in the city shows sheer negligence and lack of vision in developing them. Many of them do not look like a park as they have fully grown grass and garbage dumps.

The worst scenario can be seen in the Industrial Area parks, where people have dumped their construction residue and garbage. While reviewing the same area, cow dung cakes were also seen lying. ‘‘Despite numerous written complaints to the JMC and local MLAs, nothing has been done in this direction yet,” said the residents.

A family in the locality said they constructed this house 50 years ago thinking they would live in front of the park. But the park has not been developed since.

They alleged that half of the park has been illegally occupied by the city’s famous industrialists and the JMC officials are aware of the fact.

“Many women from nearby locality make cow dung cakes here. In the rainy season, the same park turns into a pond of dirty water and people of our locality are more prone to water-borne diseases,” he said.

Interestingly, the foundation stone for the development of the park has been laid twice — by former Mayor Rakesh Rathore and Chief Parliamentary Secretary KD Bhandari — but the park has not been developed yet.

Apart from this, former councillor of Kot Ram Das locality in ward 9, Gurmeet Chand, said they have land allotted for the park but no grant has been provided as yet to develop it. “I have brought the matter to the notice of the JMC on several occasions but no one seems to be paying heed to it,” he said.

The Beant Singh Park on the Jalandhar-Amritsar highway has been affected by the negligence of the local bodies. A commuter said, “The parks are being misused by drug addicts at night. The Beant Singh Park was one of the finest parks in the city as it had all the facilities like sitting arrangements, lights, plants and flowers. But now, everything has been ruined. The park was named after Beant Singh, the Punjab Chief Minister.

Parks turned into a parking lot

Many parks in city have been turned into a parking space. A park in front of Suwidha Centre which falls under the jurisdiction of the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) has been converted into a parking lot right under the nose of the PUDA office.

It was actually meant for the welfare of the residents of the area. No family ever sends its children for playing in this park at Mota Singh Nagar, behind the bus stand. Since many private bus operators have their offices around the area, the park always remains encroached upon by buses all along its side.

Renovation of park

One of the biggest parks in the city is Nehru Garden, also famous as Company Bagh. It is being renovated because of its poor state of affairs. Started nearly five years ago, the Rs 3.84-crore renovation work of the park is finally set to be completed in the next few months. The boundary wall of the garden is complete. The tile work for double meandering walking path has been done. Multi-coloured fibre swings have been installed.

The park will have three designer gates and musical fountains. Stylish rocks and stones of a special quality will be used to enhance its beauty. As per the plans, the park will have planned growth with grass-covered mounds all around the edges. A curving pathway along the boundary and across the central portion, canopies and huts on the hillocks with benches and a fountain are also to come up.

Parks developed by residents

Having received almost zero grant and proper assistance from the JMC, some residents have started developing the parks in their locality like the rear side of Model Town Gurudwara, Urban Estate and Partap Bagh locality.

The vice-president of the Partap Bagh Welfare Society, Yogesh Kohli, said the park was named after the former Chief Minister of Punjab, Partap Singh Kairon. But it has been neglected by various governments and civic bodies. Ever since the park was inaugurated in the early 1960s, it remained a venue for political, religious and social functions. “The park now has over 100 trees, 60 benches and rows of flower beds. This has been possible through donations from residents,” he said.

Manpreet Singh Chatwal, Commissioner, JMC, said the council has no immediate plan to develop the parks in the city as it doesn’t have sufficient budget for that. Ninety per cent of the parks handed over to local societies, have not been supervised by the JMC officials. Besides, there are many gardeners in the JMC to look after the parks.

The Chief Parliamentary Secretary, KD Bhandari, said they had a plan to develop a park in the area but one of the residents got a stay from the court and the work was stopped.

Jalandhar, February 9
Residents of Mithapur village, especially Ekta Vihar and Greenwood Avenue areas, are facing inconvenience due to the deplorable condition of the road for the last few years.

Though the local civic body has allocated the work to a private contractor two years ago, the broken road that falls in the constituency of local MLA Pargat Singh continues to be a nightmare for the commuters.

The residents of the area have not only taken up their grievances with the local MLA Pargat Singh and municipal councillor Balraj Thakur many times, but also lodged a protest by airing their voice in local newspapers.

The road adjoining the Mithapur village has developed potholes in the absence of repair work for the past many years. Even the road from Shiv Vihar to Kuki Dhaab is full of potholes.

To further add to the plight of the commuters, residents of Greenwood Avenue and Ekta Vihar, Phase-II, Phase-I, where a concrete road has been laid, have illegally erected gates. Moreover, the residents have even used chains to stop four-wheelers from crossing the road illegally right under the nose of the MLA.

Bir Singh, a resident of Green Avenue, said: "The road connects over a dozen villages and residential areas. The illegal gates are not only creating problems for the commuters but also proving to be a major bottleneck in case of emergencies. The road also leads to a school as well as Kaypee Stadium." The stadium was constructed in the memory of the father of the sitting MP from Jalandhar, Mohinder Singh Kay Pee.

Residents want that the road should be laid at the earliest and action should also be taken to remove the illegal gates which are adding to their woes.

When contacted, Balraj Thakur, municipal councillor, admitted that the residents of certain housing colonies have erected gates on the road illegally. He claimed to have received numerous complaints against the gates and his repeated meetings with the people, who have erected the gates, have failed to yield results. The MC advocated stringent action against persons for erecting gates on the road illegally.

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