Jalandhar, February 11
The Jalandhar Improvement Trust (JIT) has decided to sell the abandoned swimming pool complex in the Partap Bagh area for Rs 55 crore for the construction of the Kapurthala flyover.

The foundation stone of the flyover was laid by Sukhbir Badal, Deputy Chief Minister, Punjab, on Monday. The complex has been lying abandoned due to its non-maintenance by the JIT, which has decided to dispose it of to build the flyover.

“It is the property of the trust and we can sell it as and when we desire. The pool was lying abandoned for the past 15 years and so we have decided to sell it off to finance the flyover project on the Kapurthala road,” said Mukul Soni, Superintending Engineer, JIT.

According to sources, the construction of the swimming pool in the area was in itself a very big mistake, as the area was surrounded by huge "peepal" trees. Within a few years after its construction, the roots of these trees teared apart the ground beneath the pool and entered the pool area. Later, the contaminated water of the nearby sewerage pipe also started flowing inside the pool through these cracks. “Also, a few children died in the pool, as there were no caretakers or lifeguards appointed by the JIT,” said Ravi Suri, a resident living near the pool complex.

Although, the JIT has decided to auction the property for some commercial use, the residents want to get it developed as a community centre with some recreational facilities for the general public. “There is very less space available in the city. It should not be sold for some commercial purpose, but should be developed as a community centre for the general public. Due to the highly congested area, we do not have many grounds for organising events and other recreational activities. It should be renovated and maintained as a public place only,” said Lalita Mohan, another resident.

The residents have also suggested that instead of the swimming complex, the abandoned parking area, just opposite the pool, should be sold for creating a mini-market after developing the swimming complex as a recreational complex. “The administration can renovate the complex and instead sell the MC parking which is lying as a garbage dump after making shopping booths over it. The area can also be developed into a shopping centre,” said Rani Ahuja, a student. Presently, the area has been encroached upon by donkey owners who also work as rag-pickers in the garbage dump created inside the parking lot.

The MC had put the parking site under hammer so many times in the past, but it could not find any takers. May be after the renovation of the swimming pool into some recreational centre, the MC will find its taker!

Jalandhar, February 11
The Municipal Corporation (MC) Jalandhar today sealed three buildings whose owners had not paid the requisite amount for the "change of land use".

The building branch officials had pending dues to the tune of Rs 35 lakh from Ruby Palace in Adarsh Nagar and Rs 15 lakh from two adjoining shops there.An Assistant Town Planner sealed the three buildings. In another development for the MC, a detailed project report for the clearance of mega projects from the Central Government has been partly approved. The Government of India has sanctioned an amount of Rs 189 crore, which includes Rs 26 crore for the Chandan Nagar RUB, Rs 55 crore for the elevated road project and Rs 108 crore for general road construction, including those on which sewage work had been recently completed. —TNS

Jalandhar, February 11
Even though it has been more than five years since the state government started the construction of the Northern Indian Institute of Fashion Technology (NIIFT) at Surya Enclave here, the building stands incomplete owing to the paucity of funds.

The incomplete building of the National Institute of Fashion Technology in Jalandhar. Photo: Sarabjit Singh

The students, undertaking the course for the past two years, have been made to take classes in the dilapidated building of Government Tanning Institute on Nakodar Road.

A project of the Department of Industries, the construction of the institute is being executed by the Punjab State Industries and Export Corporation (PSIEC). While earlier the cost of the project had been kept at Rs 16.38 crore, the contractor has been saying that owing to cost escalation, he should be paid an additional amount of Rs 7 crore.

The contractor has shifted the labour to another project owing to the pending issues with the departments concerned. The XEN of the PSIEC, HS Matharoo, said that a meeting had been held with the Director, NIIFT, to resolve the issue.

“There has been a shortage of funds. We got work to the tune of Rs 6 crore executed at the site with a frontal academic and administrative block almost near completion. We have assured the contractor that we would pay him a few crores more and that he should get us completed this part in the next three months. We want the students to shift to the new building in the new session which is to start in August,” he said.

A unique design of two-heeled shoes chosen by the government has come as a cropper for the project. The design, prepared by architect Renu Khanna, has been reportedly consuming a lot of space and huge amount for construction purpose. Still the onlookers believe that it would stand out whenever it would get completed.

An atrium and a reception on the ground floor is ready with finishing yet to be done. Rooms for the staff, too, have been constructed with electricity and sanitary fittings pending. Eight classrooms have been constructed on upper floors of the building.

The work on the second heeled boot which will house an auditorium, has been kept for the subsequent phase. The construction of the hostel and Principal's residence, too, has been postponed for now, said the PSIEC XEN. 

Jalandhar, February 11
Even as PUDA has miserably failed to sell any of its sites in the last 10 auctions, the Kartarpur Improvement Trust managed to earn nearly Rs 3.5 crore today.

The auction was held for commercial properties under the Sri Guru Arjan Dev Nagar scheme of the Trust on the Jalandhar-Amritsar GT Road, wherein properties were sold at an amount 2.5 times than the reserved amount.

ADC Praneet Bhardwaj, who presided over the auction, said three SCOs in an area of 133 sq yard with a reserve price of Rs 21,600 per sq yard went for Rs 33,400 per sq yard. Two SCOs in an area of 116.67 sq yards were sold for Rs 25,400 per sq yard. One of the four booths with a price of Rs 33.33 sq yard went for a price touching Rs 52,000 per sq yard. 

Jalandhar, February 11
In a well-tailored attire, he enters the circus ring with a great deal of confidence. With his smile, he can make an elephant play football, birds sing a song and camels dance to the tunes of Bollywood.

Meet Babu Lal Nair, the man who has trained animals for many commercials which became famous and Bollywood movies. His best feat was the training of "Kuttinarayanan", the baby elephant who got famous as "Appu", the mascot for 1982 Asian Games held in New Delhi. He is presently in the city with the Great Bombay Circus which is running at Burlton Park.

“I opened my eyes with beautiful animals all around me. They were, in fact, an extended family to me. My father was also an animal trainer and so I was brought up in a circus while playing with all of them. They are all my childhood friends and we understand each other very well. They know my moods and listen to me like my children,” said 61-year-old Nair from Kerala.

In his long career, he has trained animals for many reputed commercials like Videocon, Panther LML Vespa, Tata Tea Master and Amul undergarments. He has also worked in movies like "Mard", "Tarzan", "Junoon" and "Ajooba". “My best moment was when Appu, the famous mascot, garlanded the then President Giani Jail Singh during the 1982 Asian Games and he, in return, garlanded me for training him so well,” revealed Babu Lal.

He is, however, upset at the little scope that the animal trainers have in India due to stringent wildlife protection laws. He has also shown displeasure that the circus culture is dying due to reports of animals being harassed during training schedules. “Why would we harass them? They help us in earning our bread and butter. We train them like children. Sometimes, we lure them to perform with their favourite eatables or sometimes we scold them like we do with our children. Although some people used to hurt them, their number was limited. It was a much-hyped issue by some international organisations to earn huge donations from society,” said Babu Lal.

He said the circus culture was dying due to this wrong perception. “Earlier, dignitaries, including heads of various states, used to come to circus to see animals performing various breathtaking feats. People used to bring their children here to get them introduced to wildlife. But now, in the Internet age, we have lost the charm,” rued Babu Lal.

He also showed his unhappiness at the ignorance shown by the government in their struggle to earn livelihood.

Jalandhar, February11
Members of United Forum of Bank Unions continued their strike for the second consecutive day, thus causing a huge revenue loss to the state exchequer, especially the big industrialists and other traders.

The money vending machines (ATMs) across the district failed to deliver service in the absence of cash.

The bank employees and officers observed a nationwide strike to press for the acceptance of their demands like immediate wage revision and banking reforms.

About 3,000 bank employees and officers in the city remained on strike. While 300 bank branches in the city remained closed, about 4,000 bank employees in the district remained on strike thereby keeping 700 bank branches closed.

Holding banners and shouting slogans against the Union Finance Minister and the UPA government, the striking bankers organised a huge procession in the city to air their grievances.

They claimed that the pending 20,000 cheques amounting to Rs 200 crore could not be cleared even today. Business worth Rs 800 crore in the city and Rs 1,600 crore in the district was affected due to the strike.

The agitating bank employees revealed that the last bipartite settlement had expired on October 31, 2012 and the negotiations for wage revision have been held with the IBA on different dates but no satisfactory offer for increase in wages keeping in view the inflation and aspirations of bank employees has come from the IBA.

Amrit Lal, convenor, UFBU, Jalandhar, said the gross profits of banks have increased from Rs 41,000 crore to Rs 1,16,000 crore and net profits have increased from Rs 20,000 crore to Rs 50,000 crore from 2006-07 to 2012-13. Keeping in view the rise in profits and hike in the prices of essential commodities, the demand for a hike in wages was genuine.

"Profitability can be further enhanced if stringent laws are framed to recover the NPAs. The NPAs in the year 2013 amounted to Rs 1,64,000 crore and the amount is struck on account of a clear nexus between the borrowers, bank's authorities and political administration,” he said.

Jalandhar, February 11
The management of the Dr BR Ambedkar National Institute of Technology has forcibly sent a woman medical officer on leave for allegedly having heated arguments with her superior.

Sources in the NIT revealed that medical officer Dr Renu Verma had an arguments with Dr AK Jana, in-charge, dispensary, for not attending and behaving properly with the students and patients.

Students of the institute had earlier complained to the management against Dr Verma and even boycotted classes for the second consecutive day today demanding strict action against her.

It is learnt that Dr Jana, instead of sanctioning a leave, marked her absent which irked Dr Verma and added fuel to the fire.

Meanwhile, the NIT management had constituted a three-member committee to investigate the matter.

When contacted, Dr MK Jha, media coordinator of the NIT, clarified that the lady medical officer had an argument with her professor in-charge over leave. Security has been provided to her by deploying guards at her residence on the campus.

The lady medical officer had already proceeded on leave after the incident, Jha claimed. He, however, clarified that the students were out as certain faculty members could not take classes.

"The teaching faculty suspended work to lodge their protest against the new notification issued by the Human Resource Development Ministry about their pay fixation and certain other related issues," he said.