Jalandhar, February 17
Even though 24 hours have passed, the railways authorities seemed to be clueless about the cause of the fire in a parked coach of the Amritvani Express here late last night.

Although the local authorities conducted a preliminary investigation round into the incident, they were unable to find out the cause of the fire that had engulfed the guard’s cabin and destroyed it completely.

“There is a possibility of a short-circuit that may have caused the fire outbreak in the cabin, but it is not confirmed. Only the detailed investigation that will happen sometime next month will reveal the exact cause of the tragedy,” said SS Walia, station superintendent, city railway station.

On Sunday, the local authorities constituted a team of five members, comprising SS Walia, Station Superintendent, City Railway Station, Parminder Singh, SSE, (Carriages and Wagon), Sharda, SSE (Loco), SP Singh, SSE (Power) and Narinder Singh, ASI (RPF), immediately after the incident.

The team visited the spot around 5 am and video-graphed the whole scene. After doing the preliminary investigation for almost four hours, the team left the spot at around 9.30 am. Two officials were also reported to have joined the investigations from Amritsar.

The coach was parked on track No. 6 to begin its journey to Ambala. Earlier, it had arrived on the city railway station carrying around 1,600 passengers from Begumpura. After its arrival, it was taken to the yard for cleaning and later was parked on track No. 6 to be sent back to Ambala. It was only during this time that the railways staff at the station saw some smoke coming out from the guard’s cabin. They immediately informed the fire services. The fire was so severe that it took 45 minutes to control it. The rest of the coaches were immediately separated from the guard’s cabin and were sent to Ludhiana. A detailed investigation into the case will be held later next month.

Jalandhar, February 17
The city police today arrested two persons for allegedly stealing 600 gm of gold, worth Rs 20 lakh, from the house of a jeweller at Shirajganj nearly three weeks ago.

The complainant, Jawahar Chopra, who owns a jewellery shop at Lal Bazaar here, said he had kept Suresh Kumar of Bihar as a cook at his place and given him a room on the top of his house. He said he had gone to an engagement party in the city on January 25 and returned home around midnight.

On his arrival at home, he found cupboards of his room open and gold ornaments missing. He also found that Suresh Kumar was missing. He got lodged a complaint at the Division Number 3 police station the next day under Sections 457 and 381 of the IPC.

The cops said during interrogation, it was found that Suresh Kumar had taken the stolen jewellery to his uncle Jua Lal's place in Delhi. The ADCP-1 said a police party had been dispatched to Delhi on February 7. It recovered a major part of the stolen gold ornaments, arrested Jua Lal and got his remand till February 16. Another party was sent to arrest Suresh from Bihar. The party recovered the remaining part of the booty. He was presented before the Duty Magistrate yesterday for getting a 50-hour remand till tomorrow.

The police has asked the residents to get the verification of their servants done for their security.

Jalandhar, February 17
The People For Animals — set up in 1999 — is the only organisation that has been consistently working for the cause of stray, wounded and abandoned animals in the city ever since it was set up. While the MC has been shying away from shouldering responsibility on the issue, the small shelter (given the work that it is doing) in the Police Lines area of the city has been a haven for stray animals in the city.

Stray dogs at Cool Road near BMC Chowk; and (right) cattle at Old GT Road near Maqsudan in Jalandhar. Photos: Sarabjit SIngh

Everyone who is associated with the cause of animals agrees that if it wasn't for the PFA, there wouldn't have been any recourse for the people willing to get treatment or shelter for the injured and discarded animals — a cause which is considered more or less a fringe issue by both the residents and the administration.

Residents regret the fact that an organisation doing such substantial work in the city is working with such limited funds.

The only bigger piece of land available to the NGO is a deep pit which is being filled. Only after it is complete will the NGO be able to shift there. Meanwhile, the municipal corporation earns the wrath of the residents for the inaction prevailing over the last seven years. While it might still be months before the new project being envisioned by the MC begins, the residents, in the meantime, are an angry lot.

Colonel Brahmanand Gupta said, "We have been sterilising female dogs for the past two years in the district. We have sterilised 430 dogs till date. All this has been done with the financial support of the local Army headquarters. Cantonment is a porous area and a lot of strays enter it from all the sides. While we have personally never approached the civilian authorities, the state of the stray dog population makes it obvious that not much work is being done in this regard. While we personally conduct operations under the Animal Birth Control Programme and also provide medicines to strays, the post operative care lasts for about a week. As far as we know, no such procedure is going on in the city. The only organisation which is working in this respect is the People for Animals and it also lacks funds. There is a need for starting an effective programme in this regard to effectively manage the population of strays."

"I do not believe that stray dogs are a menace to us as such. But from what we see on the roads, stray animals do not have any shelter or food and when they are repeatedly left unfed, they get violent and start barking at people. There should be shelters for stray dogs in various localities where they might taken. The community should also come forward to support the dogs. There are also instances when people throw stones at or irritate the stray animals or hit them with their vehicles. While the administration needs to step up its efforts for the cause, the community also needs to feef and be nice to the animals. Currently, only rare do-gooders or NGOs are doing it,” said advocate Robin Ghosh.

Professor Sandeep Chahal said, "There are certain areas where strays have created such a problem that people even had to protest in this regard. The garbage dumps and stray population in the city go hand in hand. People dump leftovers and food for animals near dumps and there is almost always without fail a huge congregation of dogs or cattle near them. In conjested areas, people feed these dogs at their homes. But since they are stray animals, they carry infections from dumps or contaminated places and bring it to the localities. People should either domesticate these animals and keep them clean or leave them alone."

Speaking on the cattle menace. Prof Chahal said, "There are groups of gypsies in the city who bring in their cattle from their respective states and leave them on the streets since they themselves are homeless. Dairy owners also often leave cattle to the elements. These animals also gather near dumps and there are pockets where male bulls and cows are found in abundance. The MC needs to take care of these animals and rules regarding keeping these animals in check need to be implemented. But the same is not being done."

Speaking of the medical aspect of the problem Prof Chahal said, “Except for the PFA, no other organisation picks up and treats stray animals. The MC does not have any such provision. The veterinary clinics are themselves in shambles. So, there is no way the stray populations can be kept safe. Last year, a virus spread in the city among the animals and no government establishment had the medicines or vaccines for them. Residents as well as the animals are being exposed to a lot of hazards due to the lax working of the administration."

Deepak Jyoti, a do-gooder who has been a vital part of the campaign to streamline the working of the gaushalas in the city, said, "After the High Court took up the issue of better arrangements and care of the malnourished cows at the gaushala, the authorities seemed to have got active for some time. While one could say a marginal improvement is visible, things are largely the same at both the gaushalas. Some volunteers have started visiting one of the gaushalas early in the morning everyday to feed the cows but the administration hasn't turned up again. Cattle continue to die and sewerage continues to get blocked. The average 14 to 15 workers for hundreds of cattle are inadequate. At home, one person spends considerable time taking care of the domesticated cows and here, no one cares. Only a diploma holder attends to the cows, the vets visit for a short which is not enough to take care of the cows.”

"Eateries normally dump leftovers at the nearest dumps and stray dogs gather in the area. At night, it becomes difficult for the residents to cross if they are on a cycle or bike. The garbage isn't picked and the dogs do not leave. Crazy dogs are also a threat to residents but despite complaints, the problem hasn't been solved,” said Paramjit Singh Bains, a resident who stay near the Cool Road area.

Richa Sharma, a resident of Urban Estate, said, "Some thin, lanky dogs roam around in the area and some are fed by the residents. I have seen instances where dogs walk into the area with strips and garbage in their mouths. Some cattle also do that from the nearby dump. After these instances increased, many have stopped feeding the dogs. Animals also fight near the garbage dumps and we have to sometimes stay stay awake at night because the dogs are howling. It feels unsafe to go out at night. While we have nothing against the dogs, the problem has increased. The threat of infection also looms large. The authorities need to do something about it."

Jalandhar, February 17
After the Punjab and Haryana High Court, had on January 23, asked the Municipal Corporation (MC) officials to regularise 525 encroachments at Bhargo Camp in three months’ time, the town planning officials have written to the Deputy Commissioner (DC), seeking his intervention in the house allotment.

Municipal Town Planner Tejpreet Singh said a representation had been made to the DC, Varun Roojam, asking him to set up a price fixation committee for determining the allotment rate for handing over properties to residents there. The DC said he would soon study the file and do the needful in the matter.

The Town Planning Department has also started assessing the area for earmarking the designated roads, ensuring that there are proper cuts and angles, and specifying various valid and invalid constructions so as to initiate the process for removing all such structures which stand illegal.

The court had asked the MC to submit a compliance report on the petition filed by the Citizen Welfare Society before May 2. Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul had said that the regularisation should be done via a proper sanction and on a payment of the requisite amount to the authorities. It had also asked the MC officials to remove any construction which it considered to be unauthorised.

The court had also asked the MC officials to ensure that any other unauthorised construction existing in the city of Jalandhar as encroachment would also be removed within this period of three months, with its status report also filed with a chart annexed of all detected unauthorised constructions taking place and action taken in this behalf along with photographs of the site. The first of such report should be filed at least three days prior to the next date of hearing on May 2, it 
had ordered.

Jalandhar, February 17
Non-teaching staff of the HMV and DAV Colleges held dharna on the call of Private Colleges Non-Teaching Employees Union Punjab and Chandigarh outside their respective institutions.

State president Madan Lal Khullar said the Punjab government had not fulfilled the genuine demands of the employees. He appealed the government to fulfil their demands otherwise the union will hold a state level rally in March.

Pankaj Jyoti, youth leader of the union, said the SAD-BJP Government had totally failed and falsely states that the financial position of the state is good. The agitating employees are demanding arrears with efftct from 01/01/2006, lifting of ban from the non-teaching posts of the aided colleges, implementation of revised pay scales from 01-12-2011, 4:9:14 step up increment, earned leave and leave encashment, enhanced medical allowance and house rent, CCA, pension and gratuity etc to the staff of aided colleges.

On the occasion, members of the union Kulwant Singh, Bhupinder Thakur, Amarjit Khanna, Pankaj Jyoti, Lakhwinder Singh, Babu Ram, Ravi Maini, Rajit Uppal, Rajiv Bhatia, Rajesh Kumar, Gurjeet Kaur, Seema K Joshi, Rajesh Kumar, Manohar Lal, Sonia Kumari, Nirmala Devi, Amar Singh, Gian Chand, Rikhi Ram Paul, Rajesh Kanojia, Kewal Krishan, Shiv Lal, Ram Lubhaya, Tej Kumar, Karam Chand Pathak, Nand Lal, Gurdev Virdi, Amar Singh, Doodh Nath, Bhajno, Chanda Rani, Raksha Rani were also present. 

Jalandhar, October 17
Name a community or a profession and the political parties have their wing specifically dedicated to it. Ranging from Doctors' Cell, Legal Cell, CA Cell, Transporters' Cell, Traders' Cell and Sports Cell, they have special groups for SCs, BCs, Baazigars and now even those for Cow Protection and Arhtiyas.

While earlier, political parties had just a few cells such as those for the youth, mahila (women) and SCs, these have now shifted to primary categories with many more secondary and tertiary groups emerging up.

While the SAD and the state Congress have eight to 10 groups, the BJP tops them all with nearly 45 cells across the state, all of which have been re-constituted and activated in the recent past. It recently renewed its NRI Cell (which is a source of major funding), RTI Activists' Cell (primarily to keep targeting the Opposition or any of those harming the interests of the party) and even Cultural Cells (to regale the gathering during party rallies).

While the SAD and the Congress so far lag behind in activating their wing-based cadre ahead of the Parliamentary polls, the BJP leadership leads them, having announced new teams four months back, having held their interactive sessions with state president Kamal Sharma and getting their photo sessions already done.

Kamal Sharma said the party has as many as 70 cells at the national level and over 40 in the state. "We had an NRI Cell earlier but we have activated it more now. A few cells like those of Transporters and NGO Cell are newer concepts", he said.

"By forming such cells, we achieve multiple objectives. We empower a lot of people by giving them a designation in the party. Besides, a state-level committee, they have local conveners who further have local teams under them. These groups ensure that the interests of their community are well taken care of by the party. They spread a good word about the party within that community which helps us expand our base which ultimately helps us expand our vote bank," he said.

A Congress councillor, when asked about the status of cells in the party, said, "We have those for Minorities, Industry, Transport, SCs, Mahila, Industry, Legal and Sports but currently all these cells are lying fused. Our leaders are yet to take initiative to charge them up."

District Congress president Rajinder Beri said three cells had been formed recently, including those of OBC, Human Rights and Urban Development. "While we only had 12 cells earlier, we too intend to form more cells like the BJP which has gone to the extent of forming one for Arhtiyas as well," he said

Similarly, the SAD has Mulazam Wing (mostly, comprising those in semi-government jobs), Vyapar, Mahila, SCs and BCs but the party is yet to cast them again.

Jalandhar, February 17
Displaying exemplary performances and excellent footwork, the teams of Hoshiarpur, Fatehgarh Sahib, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar and Jalandhar have stormed into the quarterfinals of the 66th Punjab State Football Championship being held at Guru Gobind Singh Stadium in the city. The championship is being conducted by the district Football Association, Jalandhar.