Man booked for making spurious soft drinks
Amritsar, July 16
The police have booked Gautam Arora of the Tilak Nagar near Shivala Bhaiyan in connection with the seizure of a huge quantity of spurious soft drinks of a renowned brand during a late evening raid today at a factory in the Tilak Nagar area.

Amritsar, July 16
The police have arrested two persons for attacking a team of the Municipal and Town Planning Department. The team was attacked when it had gone to remove encroachments in the Baba Bohriwala area.

The police stated that both parties were being given a hearing and no case had been registered so far. The duo had attacked an MTP inspector making his nose bleed in the melee. This is not the first instance in which the MC staff has been attacked while removing encroachments.

Earlier, the Assistant Town Planner was attacked when he went with his team to remove encroachments.

Yet again, an MC team was attacked by the residents while it was on duty yesterday. Following an ‘agreement’ after the offending residents gave a written apology, no case was registered.

The police had arrested two persons, identified as Inderjit Singh and Sahib Singh, who along with their family members and supporters had attacked Municipal Town Planning Inspector Malkiat Singh and his team members when they objected to the illegal expansion being done by them.

Sources said that Inspector Malkiat Singh had received injuries in the melee after the encroachers became violent. They had locked the whole team in a room for quite sometime. Later, the team was released after several officials of the MC and the police intervened.

SHO, C-Division, Lakhwinder Singh, said that a case was not registered as both parties were being heard. MC Commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal said that the complaint was withdrawn after issuing a stern warning. “We took cognisance of the unfortunate incident. The encroachers apologised for their act and also gave their consent to remove encroachments,” he said.

This was not an isolated instance. Earlier, on December 13, some unidentified persons were booked for allegedly attacking the department’s team while it was on an anti-encroachment drive at Vijaya Nagar. This incident had left the wrist of Assistant Town Planner (ATP) Narinder Kumar broken.

When the MTP team, accompanied by police officials, had started the process of demolishing ramps at the main bazaar, Batala road, according to the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, some unknown persons started throwing pebbles.

“We were attacked by a mob. They objected to our action, whereas we were on duty and obeying the high court directions. It was then that the pebbles struck my hand and I got my wrist fractured then”, he said.

The offenders could not be traced till date, though a case was registered under Sections 353, 186, 332, 333,148 and149, IPC.

Amritsar, July 16
A major fire broke out in a building in the busy Hall Bazaar area here this afternoon reportedly due to short circuiting. Around five persons, including children and women, were rescued from the building.

At least six fire tenders were pressed into service, which took over an hour to douse the fire. Sadiq Masih, a fire brigade officer, said that around five persons were stuck in the building, which was engulfed with fire. However, they were rescued from the building before it got too late. He said one person who was in the adjoining building did not come out in time. He was later rescued by the staff with the help of the people. He raised the alarm when dense fog engulfed the building and he started feeling suffocated.

Advocate Sanjeev Agarwal, who has his office on the second floor of the building, said that his clerk was in the office who informed him that fire had erupted in the building. He said the fire first caught Brideway showroom located in the first floor. From here, it spread to other parts of the building. He said he did not know the exact reason behind the fire. He said he suffered a loss of around 1 lakh in the incident.

Earlier panic gripped the busy market of Hall Bazaar when the news of the fire in the building spread in the market. The police immediately reached the spot and blocked the traffic from both sides so that the rescue operation could continue without hindrance. 

Amritsar, July 16
With the Punjab Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa presenting his budget in the state Assembly today, the city residents expressed a mixed response to the budget. The people, who are bearing the brunt of the rising inflation, felt that the state government should have directed its energies to offer respite to people.

Gunbir Singh, member, CII Task Force on Governance
The 2014-15 Dhindsa budget has allocated substantial funds for skill development and uplift of standards of education.

The other positives are 109-crore allocation to drug de-addiction and cancer treatment. Although the financial statement is high on social sector inputs, there is no visible support in the budget on augmenting industrial production, trade or commerce, or any succuor to the sick industry. Agriculture finds ample investment of Rs 1,283 crore for the irrigation and the canal system overhaul, research funds for the PAU etc. Developments in city infrastructure are well funded.

Harcharan Singh, Assistant General Manager, Punjab & Sind Bank
After the Narendra Modi government raised the limit for tax exemption from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh per anum, the SAD-BJP coalition government was expected to be more sensitive towards the economic needs of the employee class.

The lower middle class is finding it difficult to make both ends meet, especially in the wake of soaring prices of essential items. On the other hand, the upper middle class is finding its savings eroding. If we look at the inflation rate, in May 2014, it reached 8.28 per cent, whereas the tolerable inflation limit, according to guidelines of the RBI, falls between 4 per cent to 4.5 per cent. The government must work in tandem with the Union Government and the RBI, and use both the fiscal and the monetary policies judiciously to control inflation, which is eating into the purchasing power of the common man.

Rattan Singh Randhawa, a leader of border area farmers
I welcome Punjab Finance Minister’s proposal of Rs 109 crore to fight drug addiction and cancer. However, at the same time, I want to add that it is too little and limited to a sector only. Villages along the International Border (IB) with Pakistan are grappling with various kinds of infrastructure and civic amenities gaps. For instance, the road from Attari to Rajatal on which three villages fall, namely Bharopal, Bhaini and Dauke is in a deplorable state. Similarly, the road from Rattan and Hardo rattan villages is in a bad shape. Roads from Sanghera, Kakkar and Raniya border villages are in a pitiable condition. Besides, border village residents suffer from long power cuts. The government has not come out with any solution to 11,000 acres of disputed land near the IB.

Santsewak Singh
Petrol prices have jumped by more than Rs 20 per litre during August 2010-May 2014. Any increase in the price of diesel increases the transportation cost of essential items. And a hike in the cooking gas prices adversely affects households. So, any increase in these prices will lead to further weakening of the economic status of the country’s burgeoning middle class. State tax on petrol and diesel is among the highest in comparison to other states in the country. Therefore, taxes must be brought down to give respite to the people.

Amritsar, July 16
The police have booked Gautam Arora of the Tilak Nagar near Shivala Bhaiyan in connection with the seizure of a huge quantity of spurious soft drinks of a renowned brand during a late evening raid today at a factory in the Tilak Nagar area.

Lakhbir Singh, field investigator, Speed Search, Mohali, said they had received a tip-off that the accused was involved in the manufacturing of spurious soft drinks in the name of Dew, a registered brand of PEPSI, and due to this they were incurring huge financial losses.

Following this, the team along with a police party from Division A police station raided the complex and seized a huge quantity of spurious soft drinks, plastic bottles and stickers from the manufacturing unit.

The owner of the unit, Arora, failed to produce any licence or documents regarding manufacturing of the soft drinks.

Police authorities said that a case under Sections 63 and 65 of the Copy Right Act had been registered against the accused.

However, he could not be arrested following the ‘intervention’ of a political leader in the area. They said as the case had been registered, the accused would be arrested soon. 

Amritsar, July 16
Lack of coordination between the municipal corporation and the Improvement Trust is taking a toll on the garbage-collection system in the city, as the private contractors engaged by the MC are not lifting garbage from the areas that fall under the Improvement Trust scheme. As a result, heaps of garbage are mounting in the posh Ranjit Avenue area as well as the Nehru Shopping Complex on Lawrence Road, both of which fall under the Improvement Trust schemes.

The private players, who have been engaged by the MC, refrain from collecting the garbage lying in the areas falling under the jurisdiction of the Improvement Trust. One such spot is the Nehru Shopping complex on the posh Lawrence Road, where the garbage heaps can be spotted even in the parking lots.

In the absence of any lifting, the sweepers here do not refrain from burning the garbage after accumulating it on the roadside and sometimes even in the collection bins.

In the past, a Honda City car, owned by a doctor, had caught fire from burning trash while it was parked in the parking lot. The occupant of the car did not realise the burning garbage heap lying alongside.

The situation at another posh commercial complex Ranjit Avenue is no different. The garbage scattered on the newly laid roads at the back of this shopping complex speaks volumes about the negligence on the part of the authorities.

The authorities indulge in the familiar blame game here, too. The Improvement Trust, which has conceptualised this complex, pass the buck to the MC for cleaning up the garbage while MC officials said that since these were Improvement Trust’s projects, the responsibility for maintenance lay with the trust. Whoever is responsible, the bottom line is that the areas under question are part of the holy city and it is only the residents who are the worst sufferers.

The trolley operators give a lame justification that they have been told to pick the garbage from the main roads only, adding that they share no responsibility to clear the heaps lying inside the shopping complexes.

The Nehru Shopping Complex and the Ranjit Avenue Complex are, otherwise, projected as replicas of the Sector 17 shopping arcade of Chandigarh and to some extent their lay out and planning resemble the Chandigarh arcade, but sheer lack of maintenance makes them appear as abandoned.

Mismanagement on the part of the civic authorities is obvious at the back of the Ranjit Avenue Complex where heaps of garbage lie and roads have pebbles scattered all over accompanied by wild weeds and Congress grass. Things become worst during rain when huge pits become invisible and cause accidents, fatal for those riding two-wheelers.

MC Commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal said, “It’s not a consideration whether an area comes under us or the Improvement Trust. Every nook and corner of the city is important for us. I am directing the official concerned to check the lapse in garbage cleaning. It will be done on priority. 

Amritsar, July 16
A local resident, identified as Ravinder Kumar of the New Jawahar Nagar area, is feared drowned after the car in which he was travelling fell in the Chinab while going from Srinagar to Baltal. Around five persons were travelling by the vehicle when the incident took place. Ravinder Kumar’s family rushed to Srinagar as soon as they came to know about the incident.

According to information, among those who were travelling by the car, two belonged to Delhi, one was from Srinagar and one was from Budlada. Ravinder had gone for the Amarnath Yatra. It has been learnt that the victims were going to Baltal for buying some grocery items for the langar. 

Amritsar, July 16
The recently notified policy of the Punjab Mandi Board to segregate wholesalers and retailers in wholesale fruit and vegetable markets has been put into limbo at the local market at Vallah as retailers are reluctant to shift to a new location.

Secretary of the board, Manjit Singh Bhalla, said, “Segregation has been done at the wholesale fruit and vegetable markets at Ludhiana and Jalandhar.” He said 271 retailers, including 24 fruit and 247 vegetable vendors, were identified and allotted 8’x8’area for setting up stall at a designated site in the wholesale Vallah Mandi itself.

“A four acre site complete with CC flooring has been prepared with complete amenities like four water coolers with RO system. Besides, six poles for four high mast lights each would be installed soon. No internal road is less than 10 feet wide in the retail market,” added the secretary.

On the other hand, retail traders stated that their business would suffer with the shifting to another location. Earlier, they had to incur losses as a result of sudden out break of fire at Vallah Market. Now, the government was not permitting them to resume their trade from the same place.

Traders alleged that they cannot repair and construct their shops due to the area falling near the ammunition depot. They also demanded installing of a tin roof at the site, which board officials rejected on the logic that the Army would not permit the same.

For the meantime, the move has been put on the burner as the agitating traders refused to submit self-declaration statements to shift to the new site.

Meanwhile, the fate of Vallah Market continues to be uncertain as the board has not identified any other alternative site despite the fact that the traders cannot raise any concrete structure on the designated site.

In December 2013 the Home Department’s Operational and Logistics Branch was directed to carry out an exercise in respect of all ammunition dumps in Punjab, including Vallah, to ascertain if any reduction in the notified area could be made.

The issue of ammunition dump location dated back to 2002, when the civic administration decided to increase the periphery of the city. The Army till then had acquired 122-acre of land on the bypass, which had few settlements in Vallah village. In return, the Army approached the Union Government and a notification banning any construction in 1,000 yards parapet was issued on November 11, 2004. However, till then a vegetable market had come up in the vicinity.

The district administration has been issuing orders under Section 144 of the CrPc (power to issue order in urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger) in the area for avoiding any fresh construction.

Since Vallah Mandi falls within the prohibited distance from the Army dump, no concrete structure and development work is allowed.

The present Vallah Market is spread over 92 acres and traders are of the view that the Punjab Mandi Board must seek public opinion before deciding the future course of action.

They said as per the rules, 50 per cent of the market fee must be funded for the development of the market. On the other hand, no effort was made to provide any basic amenities. 

Amritsar, July 16
In a continuous endeavour to have a firsthand knowledge of the problems, city Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora met councillors of Ward No. 51, 56 to 60 at his camp office, located at Panorama, here today. Others present on the occasion include Municipal Corporation (MC) Commissioner, superintendent engineers, the XENs and officials of the Operation and Maintenance wing of the MC.

Questioning the MC’s move to allocate Rs 5 lakh as development fund to each ward, the councillors apprised that they were never taken into confidence about the work being executed in their wards.

The major problems cited by councillors were of unsafe drinking water and insanitary conditions. Tubewells in most of the wards were lying defunct and the JAICA was augmenting the sewerage system at a slow pace, lamented the councillors. During the meeting it was also revealed that several residents were drawing power from tubewells illegally for domestic use.

Residents of several areas were suffering because of non-professional attitude of contractor, Pardeep Kumar Gulati, who was entrusted with different tasks in these wards, which were left midway, said the councillors.

Surinder Kumar Vicky, councillor of Ward No. 56, said the contractor was awarded the task of fixing preventive nets in the sewerage passage of his ward but it was stalled midway. Similar complaints were received from Ward No. 57.

The Mayor directed the authorities concerned to blacklist the contractor for negligence in performing his duties. He also asked officials concerned to submit a list of works being carried out in different wards to respective councillors for a follow-up.

Acting upon the complaint of councillors’ regarding slow pace of revamping of the sewerage project and pits dug up for laying of the new pipeline left midway for the past three months, the MC Commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal directed officials concerned to co-ordinate with the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board, which has been monitoring this project.

“I have directed officials to schedule meeting with the sewerage board officials within 10 days span. I will personally monitor the progress report of this project fortnightly”, he said.

The councillor of Ward No. 51 apprised the Mayor about the shortage of safai sewaks in his ward, which had created sanitation problems.

Sukhbir Singh, councillor from Ward No. 60 complained that only two tubewells installed at Kot Khalsa area were inadequate to meet the water needs of the residents. He said sewermen deputed in his ward did not receive their salaries for the past ten months. The Mayor directed officials from the Operation and Maintenance Department to take necessary action regarding the complaint.

Health officer Charanjit Singh was directed to redress sanitation problems of all the wards in the city.  

Amritsar, July 16
The police have released the sketch of the suspect, who snatched a SUVs and purse from Arman Josan, a hotelier’s son, after injuring him with a sharp-edged weapon.

The incident occurred in the busy B-block market of the posh Ranjit Avenue area yesterday. Though the police had registered a case under Section 382 of the IPC at the Civil Lines police station in this regard, no breakthrough has been achieved in the case so far. Josan has stated to the police that the armed Sikh youth slashed his neck and later took away his vehicle and purse containing credit cards and other valuable documents. Police Commissioner Jatinder Singh Aulakh said the city police was taking the incident very seriously. He said he himself visited the spot and talked to the victim. He also gave instructions to police officials and pulled up the patrolling party deputed at the time of the incident. He also directed to intensify the patrolling in the area.

SHO Vavinder Mahajan said they had checked the Punjab and Jammu borders, besides various toll plazas, to find any clue about the snatched vehicle. — TNS

Amritsar, July 16
Northern Railways General Manager Pradeep Kumar said the 25.47 km railway track between Makhu-Patti, to facilitate direct train service between Amritsar and Ferozepur, could not be laid due to paucity of funds.

He was here at the local railway station today for inspection of undergoing development projects. It was his second visit here in the last 17 days. “The total estimated project cost is about Rs 600 crore since a bridge over the Beas is also required in the stretch,” said the general manager, adding that such huge funds were not available with the Railways at present.

When asked that this was a budgetary announcement in the last railway Budget, the general manager said thousands of budgetary announcements were pending due to shortage of funds. He said buses were charging three times more than the rail fare.

Amritsar-based businessmen had high hopes of operationalisation of the train service between the two border cities as it would reduce the distance from 196 km to 82 km.

The Makhu-Patti rail link will reduce the distance between Amritsar and Mumbai by 240 km, besides connecting the region with Rajasthan. Two important regions of Punjab, Majha and Malwa, would also be connected and the distance between Jammu and Mumbai will reduced by 267 km. 

Amritsar, July 16
The Amritsar Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHARA) flayed the incident of attacking Arman Joshan, son of a city-based hotelier, by an unknown person, at posh Ranjit Avenue area on Tuesday. AHARA president APS Chatha said, “The attacker even managed to snatch away the belongings and Fortuner SUV after injuring the victim with a sharp-edged weapon. The incident exposes hollow law and order claims of the police.”

In a communiqué to the Police Commissioner Chatha said, it was disturbing to find that incidents of crime had increased manifold in the city. “It is not only a matter of concern for residents, but also for the tourists. It will have adverse impact on the hospitality business,” added Chatha. Earlier, a snatching a incident was reported from the Taylor road. Chatha requested the police to arrest the culprit and intensify patrolling on city roads. 

Amritsar, July 16
The city police have arrested three drug peddlers while their fourth accomplice managed to escape from the spot. The police have confiscated over 1.25 kg of heroin worth Rs 6.25 crore in the international market from their possession.

Among those arrested, include Simarjit Singh, Shiva and Arun Kumar, all residents of Gilwali Gate area. Their companion, who managed to dodge the police party, was identified as Sajan Malhotra. The accused are wanted by the police under similar offences and a number of cases are registered against them. They are learnt to be the associates of the notorious gangster and drug peddler, Sonu Kangla, who is currently lodged in Amritsar Central Jail.

Police Commissioner Jatinder Singh Aulakh while confirming their arrest said the names of the accused were revealed during the interrogation of persons arrested in the ongoing drive against drug peddlers, launched by the Punjab police. He said the accused were the main suppliers of contraband in the local market. They used to sell heroin and narcotic substances in small quantities.

All the accused have been booked under Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act at the C-division police station. Raids were being conducted to nab Sajan Malhotra, who managed to escape, added the Police Commissioner. 

Amritsar, July 16
The prevailing insanitary conditions at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital here are a cause for concern. There is waterlogging beside the wards as water overflows from a sewerage manhole.

A large heap of empty glass bottles can be seen near the wards for the patients. The scattered garbage and its frequent burning by sweepers also causes inconvenience to the patients and the hospital staff.

Heaps of garbage can be seen at various places in the hospital during a visit today. Even as the Municipal Corporation has stationed a garbage vehicle near the Bebe Nanki Centre of the hospital, the litter is seldom transported there, said an employee.

He complained that the sweepers burn these heaps to get rid of them. “Heaps of garbage is set on fire in the late evening or during the night. It causes difficulty in respiration,” said an employee.

In the summers the District Health Department gears up to tackle malaria and dengue cases. The Deputy Commissioner has asked the authorities concerned to ensure pouring of oil in ponds, but a pool of discarded water inside the hospital stands out.

“The patients and the staff on duty during the night are the most vulnerable to mosquitoes. The authorities must ensure that mosquitoes have no place to breed inside the hospital,” said Kewal Singh, a visitor to the hospital.