Jalandhar, May 19
Just three days after the big defeat of SAD nominee Pawan Kumar Tinu from Congress candidate Chaudhary Santokh Singh in the Lok Sabha polls, councillors of the Opposition party and even the ruling alliance have started raising their pitch against Mayor Sunil Jyoti, holding him responsible for the same.

Leader of the Opposition Jagdish Raj Raja, who had been leading protests against the Mayor and had even sought his resignation days ahead of the Lok Sabha results, said, “I kept telling the Mayor to hold a meeting and discuss the issue of prevailing resentment among the residents, but he did not pay heed to my suggestion and has now bore the brunt of the same. The poor performance of the SAD-BJP from the city-based areas should be seen as a referendum of the people against the working of Mayor and the Jalandhar MC under him.”

With most SAD-BJP councillors having lost in their respective wards, the councillors have been saying that it certainly were the bad roads and poor infrastructural development in the city over which the residents chose to vote against them.

The BJP councillors, representing the Jalandhar (North) constituency, said that barring ward number 2 of councillor Ved Vashisht and ward 38 councillor of Ravi Mahendru, all other councillors of the alliance had lost from the booths falling in their wards.

While there had been reports that Mayor Sunil Jyoti had lost from his ward by 2,200 votes, he today claimed that he had only lost by 300 votes from his booth Nos. 87, 88, 89, 93, 117, 119 and 123. Even SAD councillor and Deputy Mayor Arvinder Kaur Oberoi confessed that she had lost from her own ward 29, adding that it had been an overall defeat of the ruling alliance.

Ward 27 BJP councillor Kishan Kochhar said even as he had lost from his ward by 107 votes, he said an urgent meeting of the party was required to be called to discuss the reasons for the fallout. “We need to find out what provoked the voters to cast their vote in favour of the Congress or the AAP,” he said.

The councillors of the SAD even alleged that the Mayor did not take the senior deputy mayor along on most matters. “The latter had pulled himself out of the main functioning. All such actions on his part also paid him off,” they said.

Jalandhar, May 19
Even after 11 suicides on the rail tracks near here in the last 18 days, the Railways authorities and the Government Railway Police (GRP) Force have not taken any preventive measures to stop the deadly practice that has followed a copycat pattern for the past few days from the first incident.

While the GRP is facing an acute shortage of staff and funds, in a more shocking act, the Railways authorities, shedding all social responsibility, have even refused to support them in the matter. What’s more, due to the GRP being ill-equipped and with no support provided by the Railways authorities, most of the bodies lie unattended for hours over the railway tracks, only to be crushed again and again, with trains passing over these.

“Presently, we are facing an acute shortage of staff and funds, the lack of which is affecting our timely response to an untoward incident. Although we have managed to bring down the number of accidents on the railway tracks by placing patrolling teams near the unmanned crossings, reaching up to a person just before or after his death on the railway tracks is still a Herculean task for us,” said Rohit Choudhary, ADGP, GRP, Punjab. He also said that presently the Northern Railway provides only Rs 1,000 for the disposal of a body found on the tracks, which is quite insufficient as the GRP does not even have an ambulance of its own. “We have written to the Railways authorities to increase the disposal amount, as most of the time, my staff has to travel a long distance and hire people and a vehicle to lift a body,” said Choudhary.

Since, there is no Internet connectivity between the Railways authorities and the GRP, the Railways staff sends the memo manually to the GRP station through somebody which sometimes consumes a lot of time. Furthermore, in the absence of adequate staff and its own vehicle, the GRP, on receiving the memo, outsources them and only then could move to the accident site. Since the Railways do not stop the train "just because of a body lying on the tracks", the unfortunate corpses keep on getting crushed by the trains passing over these.

The Railways authorities, in a shocking instance, have accepted the fact that in the case of the GRP getting delayed to reach the spot, they did not have any alternative but to let the trains cross over the bodies. “We cannot wait for the GRP to come and clear the tracks by lifting the body. The movement of all the trains are connected with each other. We cannot halt any train just because a body is lying on the tracks,” said a senior official at the Ferozpur Division. He also said that while the trains cannot be stopped, they are told to slow down their speed while moving over a body.

Naresh Chand Goyal, DRM, Ferozpur Division, refused to comment on the issue that concerns severe human rights violation of a body.

Due to extreme staff shortage, no patrolling is presently being done by the GRP, Jalandhar Division, on the 368-km-long railway track passing through the districts of Jalandhar, Nawanshahr, Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala. While there are eight police stations functioning under the GRP, 12 assault posts have been constituted in various areas. Besides, various "Suraksha Samitis" have also been constituted to get information about any unusual incidents happening on the tracks that could obstruct the movement of trains. But due to the shortage of staff at these centres, they are not been able to function efficiently since their inception. With a meagre staff of 209 people, including only three-sub inspectors and four ASIs, the GRP here has been assigned the Herculean task to patrol 368 km of railway tracks passing through four districts in the state.

A lesson from British Railways

While the Ferozpur Division has been passing its the responsibility on to the GRP by giving them Rs 1,000 to dispose of a body, the British rail network, also known as the “Network Rail", conducted a Samaritarian Programme that taught around 5,000 people to look out for suicidal signs amongst the people around them and how to prevent them from taking the extreme step. The people were chosen from various walks of life and those who were using the rail network in their day-to-day life. Also by connecting them to a 24-hour dedicated helpline, they managed to prevent 313 people from committing suicide from April to October last year.

The two most important signs were as follows:

1. Something is seriously wrong might include someone sitting on a platform for a long period and failing to catch any of the train that stops

2. Sometimes they might be wearing nighties, dressing gowns, sleepers or even hospital gowns.

3. Sometimes, they might be taking their clothes off and folding these neatly on the platform.

Telecom providers as saviours

According to SK Nigam, general manager, BSNL, the service providers can come to the rescue of such people who would reach the railway tracks to commit suicide. “All the service providers are offering location-based services in which a subscriber is made aware about the nearest facility like malls, hospitals, amusement part etc. This facility is presently being used only for advertising purposes. However, clubbing it with a GPRS system, we can improve it. With this, the moment someone will come closer to the tracks, a notification message can be sent to the connecting number attached with a specific number. (with mug shots)

Jalandhar, May 19
A 40-year-old woman today reportedly committed suicide by hanging herself from a ceiling fan at Shivaji Nagar. The deceased was identified as Asha. She was a migrant labourer.

The incident came to the fore this morning when her family members found her hanging in the room. They immediately raised an alarm and informed the police.

On reaching the spot, the police thoroughly searched the room, but didn't recover any suicide note.

Family members told the police that the victim was depressed due to some family problem and might have taken the extreme step due to that.

Suspecting no foul play behind her death, the police division No. 5 initiated inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the Cr PC.

The body was sent for postmortem to the Civil Hospital.

Jalandhar, May 19
The residents are spending sleepless nights due to the unscheduled power cuts imposed by Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) in the city. The condition in the rural areas is even worst. Gopal Sharma, PSPCL Deputy Chief Engineer, had earlier stated that there would not be any power cut in the region as the state has become a power surplus state. He said the state would not face any dearth of power supply in domestic, industrial and farming sector. Reportedly, Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant, Bathinda, and Guru Hargobind Thermal Plant, Lehra Mohabbat, are running out of coal.

A resident of Nahal village, Mohinder Singh, said he was expecting that there would not be power cuts in the state as the Deputy Chief Minister Punjab, Sukhbir Singh Badal had claimed that Punjab had become a power surplus state. Yet the power cuts were taking place. I assume that farmers were going to face a hard time in the coming paddy season due the power cuts.

When contacted, Gopal Sharma said, “ These power cuts have been imposed due to some emergency and are for a temporary period only.” He said that there is no shortage of power in the state. Moreover, electricity is being purchased by the state government from other states to meet the demand.

It is pertinent to note that if the state have enough power of its own, why the government has been purchasing it from other states.

Jalandhar, May 19
With the rise in the number of illegal auto-rickshaws, traffic has only become more chaotic in the city. Traffic jams at various intersections have become a daily sight. Poor road sense coupled with encroachments has added to the problem. Residents of the city feel that only the traffic police and the Municipal Corporation can provide a solution to the problem. The two need to work in tandem to rid the city of the problem of auto-rickshaws that ply illegally.

People in the city alleged that the problem of illegal auto-rickshaws has been looming large. The traffic police need to play a proactive role to tackle the problem. Jalandhar Tribune spoke to a cross-section of the residents to ascertain their views and this is what they had to say:

Conduct stringent checks on illegal autos

Until and unless the traffic police understand their responsibility well, traffic in the city can not improve. Illegal auto-rickshaws cause huge inconvenience to the commuters. There should be special nakas and such auto-rickshaws should be challaned. I am surprised why the city police is mum on the issue. It seems the police is working under some pressure.

Sahil, Shopkeeper

LPG, CNG autos are the need of the hour

Looking at the rise in pollution from the diesel-run auto-rickshaws, it is time to bring in autos run on LPG and CNG. The city has over 10,000 auto-rickshaws which create air and noise pollution. With the rise in the number of autos, residents are prone to various health hazards. I believe the state government should give the diesel-run auto-rickshaw owners subsidy so that they can replace them with autos that run on LPG or CNG. It will help the auto drivers and check pollution.

Shilpa, a teacher

Encroachments lead to traffic jam

Due to the rise in encroachments coupled with the large number of illegal auto-rickshaws, roads in the city have turned into narrow streets. Due to space crunch, roads are not in a position to accommodate the growing number of illegal auto-rickshaws. I believe the city roads, which do not have space even to accommodate the registered auto-rickshaws, are further crammed when illegal auto-rickshaws also ply. The MC should understand its responsibility and act against illegal encroachments to free the city of traffic jams.

Jagbir Singh,Govt employee

Overcharging needs to be controlled

Two years back, the auto drivers were charging only Rs 5 per passenger. Later, they increased the fare to Rs 10. Neither the district administration nor the Transport Department bothered to intervene. The government should introduce more city buses so that residents can travel at a cheap fare on the city roads. Whenever we ask any auto driver to charge Rs 5, instead of listening to us, they enter into an altercation.

Arvinder Singh, Lecturer

Traffic police hand in glove with auto drivers

It is apparent that the auto drivers flout traffic rules with impunity. Despite this, they are enjoying a free run. It seems traffic cops are hand in glove with the auto drivers. I have been noticing that overloaded school auto-rickshaws are running in the city without stringent checks. Many a time in the past, the overloaded autos met with accidents which resulted in the loss of lives. The police and the district administration should understand the importance of human life which is at stake due to the illegal auto-rickshaws.

Gurnam Singh, Farmer

Battery operated autos need to be encouraged

To free the city from air and noise pollution, battery operated auto-rickshaws need to be introduced on a large scale. Till date, very few battery operated auto-rickshaws can be seen on the city roads. The state government needs to play a serious role in extending relief to the residents from vehicles that cause air pollution. Battery operated autos will bring respite from air and noise pollution.

Sukhwinder Singh, Employee

Special awareness drive required

To instill traffic sense among the auto drivers, the district administration and the traffic police should hold a special awareness drive. Special trainers can make the auto drivers aware of traffic rules and regulations and impose a penalty if they violate it. They can also seize illegal autos if found plying on the roads. I think there should be a legal provision under which every year an auto driver should be made to bring his vehicle before the Transport Department to get the fitness certificate. Only if an auto-rickshaw is fit to ply on the road should it be allowed. Otherwise, it should be seized. Many a time in the past, these auto-rickshaws have been involved in road accidents.

Romila Sharma, school principal