Amritsar, July 22
Four persons have been arrested in two separate instances that took place during the Amritsar bandh on Monday. The accused had reportedly damaged the property of some shopkeepers while forcing closure of commercial establishments during the bandh call given by Hindu outfits against the violent incidents in Baltal during the Amarnath Yatra.

In the first instance, though the police had booked over 30 persons, it could identify just four among them. They have been arrested by the E-Division police. The arrested include Pardeep Kumar, son of Ashwani Kumar, a resident of Rodhe Shah Colony, Guru Nanak Pura, Mohit Sharma and Manish Sharma, both sons of Sham Lal, a resident of Gurdware Wali Gali, Guru Nanak Pura, Amritsar.

According to ASI Nirmal Singh of police station E-Division, a case under Sections 452, 427,148 and 149, IPC, has been registered against them and a search was on to arrest the others who accompanied them and caused damage to the private property owned by Gurcharan Singh, son of Karnail Singh, a Kashmir Avenue resident.

The incident occurred near old Telephone Exchange when the mob riding on bikes starting abusing the complainant, Gurcharan Singh, at his Gora Wools Store. The accused entered his shop, broke the windowpanes and attacked him when he resisted them.

“They were armed with sharp-edged weapons like swords and sticks. My shop was closed, but I just came out to dispose of the air-conditioner’s water when they appeared and started abusing me and some of my friends sitting inside the shop. Thereafter, without any provocation, they attacked us and damaged my shop. We raised the alarm, which alerted the onlookers who caught hold of the three but the rest of them fled,” he said.

In another identical instance, Jaswinder Singh and Surinder Singh, residents of Gali Boharwali Chuhar Beri, said that a mob comprising around 35-40 persons approached them while hurling abuses. “They came on motorcycles and were armed with sharp-edged weapons. We had closed our shop but were sitting inside. Suddenly, some of them opened the shutter and attacked us. In the melee, one of them was caught while the rest managed to escape,” said Jaswinder Singh.

ASI Surjit Singh of police station Gate Hakima said that the one who had been arrested in this case had been identified as Happy, alias Pardeep Kumar, son of Walaiti Ram, a resident of 90, Aman Avenue, Amritsar. The other 30 unidentified persons, too, had been booked.

A case under Sections 452, 427, 323,148 and149, IPC, has been registered against them.

Amritsar, July 22
A majority of health centres, run by the Municipal Corporation in the holy city, are in an utter state of neglect owing to the official apathy.

The building of Municipality Hospital, Dhab Khatika, Sant Ram Aggarwal Jenana Hospital, Narayan Ghar, dispensary near octroi post at Guru Nanak Dev University and dispensary at Hargobindpura, need urgent repairs.

The shortage of the staff at most of these centres hinders the dispensing of proper health services to the general public. A visit to hospital at Narayan Ghar revealed that the staff quarters were on the verge of collapse. Even doors and windows of the hospital are broken.

The dispensary near octroi post does not have a qualified doctor, but the other staff is available. The building of this dispensary too is in dire need of repairs.

At Hargobindpura dispensary, doors of toilets are broken and building resembles an abandoned place. The unavailability of a qualified doctor at this dispensary, besides dilapidated condition of the building requires immediate attention of the authorities concerned.

The city has more than a dozen health centres, which are managed by the local Municipal Corporation (MC). The MC does not have enough funds to look after these centres. Their buildings have deteriorated during the last few years.

Heaps of garbage at these centres welcome the patients. The absence of proper facilities at these centres force the patients to visit the Civil Hospital or Guru Nanak Dev Hospital even for minor problems.

At centres where staff is appointed by the state Health Department, but the buildings are owned by MC, the repairs have not been carried out for years. Deputy Medical Commissioner, Dr Prabhdeep Kaur, said, “Under the National Health Mission we have sent a report of 14 such centres in city, which need repair and renovation.” She said the proposal has been finalised and work would begin in due course of time.

Amritsar, July 22
Even as small private hospitals boast of modern amenities, Jallianwalla Bagh Memorial Civil Hospital here is not able to utilise its costly equipment because of insufficient manpower.

The hospital, though, is equipped with a Laparoscopy machine, it does not have a trained surgeon to use the machine. The machine, costing around Rs 10 lakh, is lying idle these days.

The Laparoscopy machine is used to conduct minimum invasive surgeries, which reduce the patients’ time of stay at hospital and enable fast healing of cuts. In the absence of a trained surgeon, open surgeries are the only option for the patients if they opt for treatment at the Civil Hospital.

The hospital had also purchased a TUR (Transurethral Resection) machine, costing around Rs 8-9 lakh a few years ago, but this, too, is lying unutilised for want of a trained person. Further, the Hysteroscope used for inspection of the uterine cavity and related treatment is also lying unused. The market price of the machine is more than Rs 6 lakh.

In the absence of trained manpower at the Civil Hospital, if the patients want advanced treatment, they may have to choose a private hospital. The apathy of the government seems to be benefiting the private hospitals.

Medical experts stated that the government could easily train surgeons in the usage of these costly machines by sending them to the PGI or any other institute for a few months. “Any surgeon can use these machines provided he or she has got hands-on training for a few days under the supervision of an expert,” stated a doctor.

The appointment of persons trained in using these machines will be a boon for the patients in the city. They will not have to spend their hard-earned money at private clinics. 

Amritsar, July 22
The prices of tomato are burning a hole in the residents’ pocket. Its prices are hovering around Rs 60 per kg in the retail market.

A housewife, Harmeet Kaur, said the hike in the prices of essential commodities had upset their household budget. Around a month ago, the onion prices were hovering around Rs 40 per kg in the retail market.

NS Gabarhia, another resident said, “Media reports about the hike in the prices of onion in the markets of Maharashtra a month ago fuelled speculation, resulting in the rise of the prices. Unscrupulous traders across the country tried to earn profit by hoarding onion. However, this time, uninterrupted supply of it foiled their plans. “We expect from the state government to enact relevant laws to prevent hoarding.”

A wholesale vegetable trader, Manav Taneja, said, tomato rices were currently high due to the fall in production. He said the prices would come down with an improvement in the supply of tomato. “There is no dearth of onion, yet it is being sold from Rs 30 to Rs 35 per kg in the retail market,” he added.

“The fruits and vegetable wholesale market at Vallah is receiving 15 trucks of onion daily. Of these, nearly three trucks remain unsold. The demand is not picking up due to hot and humid weather,” said onion dealer Gaurav Behal.

The wholesale market here is receiving onion from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Nashik (Maharashtra). Onion from Rajastha is being sold from Rs 10 to 15 while the onion from MP is being sold between Rs 15 to 18.The wholesale rate of superior-quality onion Nashik is between Rs 18 to Rs 19.

It gives credence to the reports that there is a huge gap in its prices of onion in the wholesale and relail markets. It is being sold from Rs 10 to 19 per kg in the wholesale market.

Though the prices of onion have mellowed down in the wholesale market, the similar effect is yet to be seen in the retail market.

Wholesale dealers of vegetables said the supply of onion from Afghanistan had negligible impact on the local market.

They said soon onion would arrive from Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

Many traders had started hoarding onion after learning its scarcity in other parts of the country. Meanwhile, the residents resented the increase in the prices of onion. The Punjab Hoarding and Profiteering Act 1977 includes a number of items such as edible oil, sugar but it does not mention onion. Hence, the government departments can do a little in preventing its hoarding.

Amritsar, July 22
The arrival of monsoon in the city is celebrated by an active cultural itinerary and theatre activities are planned. The season has begun this time with a colourful evening of performing arts and folk dance performances at the art gallery by artistes from the city.

This quarter of the year has already started off on a positive note with a week-long theatre festival, with plays based on Chekov and Shakespeare’s classics. While the city theatre groups presented classic adaptations of “The Tempest” and celebrated plays like “Tughlaq”, other activities include poetry festivals and a folk festival.

The first week of August will see a host of cultural activities like the Monsoon festival, which will have traditional and folk performances like gidda and Teeyan festival. The art gallery recently hosted Teeyan festival, in the presence of Sarbjit Mangat, a celebrated gidda artiste. Several folk performances marked one of the most celebrated and traditional Teeyan festival. The event was held in association with the North Zone Cultural Centre.

Another round of Teeyan festival will be celebrated at Virsa Vihar along with a poetry festival. With noted names of Punjabi poetry slated to be present, the festival will be organised by Kewal Dhaliwal.

Continuing with the cultural hustle bustle of the city, a Punjabi theatre festival is being planned to be held in August, which will also mark the re-opening of Punjab Natshala, which has been undergoing renovations. “The purpose of all these activities is to keep the cultural identity of the city and involvement of its residents alive. These festivals attract individual involvement and the footfalls are quite encouraging. It also encourages theatre groups and artistes from the city, who get a platform to show their talent,” said Kewal Dhalwial, president, Virsa Vihar Society. 

Amritsar, July 22
Rough estimates suggest that there are over 55 unmanned railway crossings in the district. A majority of these are situated in rural areas.

There is a need to maintain these crossings as many lives have been lost due to accidents. Two children were killed in a train accident at an unmanned crossing in Patti yesterday.

All these unmanned crossings are on the Amritsar-Dera Baba Nanak, Amritsar-Tarn Taran and Amritsar-Attari railway lines. Railway officials said there was no unmanned crossing on the main railway line, linking Amritsar, Delhi and Jammu. The maximum number of 30 unmanned crossings are on the Amritsar-Dera Baba Nanak railway line followed by the Amritsar-Tarn Taran railway line.

They said accidents at unmanned crossings were the result of human error. Citing the Section 131 of Motor Vehicles Act and Section 161 of the Railways Act, they said the onus of crossing the railway lines lied with the commuters and stringent provisions were laid for the violators of the acts.

They said the elimination of unmanned crossings in a phased manner was the main solution to the problem. This should be done by the inter-linking of unmanned crossings with nearby manned crossings, they added. They said unmanned crossings were being linked with manned crossings as 40 per cent of the total rail mishaps in the country were taking place at unmanned crossings.

They said this was being done as the installation and operational cost of manning a railway crossings were very high. “Hence, it is not practical for the cash-strapped railway to deploy three persons, raise a house and install entire mechanism at the railway crossings,” they added.

The officials said people should be vigilant while crossing a railway line. 

Amritsar, July 22
Ignoring the Police Department’s constant appeals to furnish the details of the tenants proved to be hazardous for a local landlord.

Balbir Singh, alias Pappi, a resident of house no. 494/2, Kitte Gali No. 4, Amritsar, has been booked for renting out his house to a Bihar-based person, Mohammad Hamid, who was wanted in several cases of cross-border links.

It has been learnt that his phone was under surveillance for quite some time by the police and he had been making calls to Pakistan frequently. The police wanted to interrogate him but before it finally zeroed in on his address, he had already vacated the premises.

In the backdrop of it, the Punjab Intelligence Inspector-General of Police had provided a list of mobile numbers to the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (special), Amritsar, to trace the antecedents of some mobile numbers through which calls were being made across the border.

ADCP Ranjit Singh Brar said that Mohammad Hamid, son of Mohammad Alam, had got issued a SIM card through a fake address, 230, Gali No. 6, Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar. Through this connection, he was in touch with his connections in Pakistan.

“The SIM card was issued at a fake address and it took us some time to reach him at his exact location. Before our team could arrest him, he had changed his location without any intimation. The landlord had not bothered to find out his antecedents and had never furnished information to the police station concerned. Had it been done, we could have caught hold of him. Nonetheless, we have booked the landlord for violating the legal norm,” he said.

The police has been issuing directions under Section 144 of the CrPC, asking the residents to submit photographs, permanent residential proof and other details of tenants and domestic helps to the nearest police station.

However, the order has, as of now, fallen on deaf ears, as few residents have responded to it.

Past experience has pointed out that criminals, in the garb of tenants and domestic help, had taken advantage of the lacunae in the system and remained untraceable after committing a crime.

On an average, only one or two servants were registered at the police station for a month and sometimes, not even that.

ADCP Brar said, “I appeal to all residents to furnish the antecedents of their servants or tenants to the police in their interest only. In the event of any misadventure, it could help us in arresting them,” he said. 

Amritsar, July 22
The Municipal Corporation’s motivation behind effective implementation of its decision to make rain water harvesting compulsory for residential and commercial properties seems to be lost in administrative translation, but it definitely made some residents stand out and take charge. Looking at water harvesting as an effective solution for waterlogging and drainage failure during monsoons, some institutions and individuals are actively popularising the concept.

Rajesh Prabhakar, Principal, Prabhakar Senior Secondary School, Cherherta, has made efforts to conserve rain water. He has been harvesting rain water for the past 10 years through a system installed on the school premises and at his residence. The school also has an effective system in place for re-use of waste water for maintaining its garden and playground. “The purpose is to ensure that rain water or used water otherwise does not get wasted and is used to recharge the ground water. We also ensure that our students learn about various water conservation techniques and implement them at their own level,” says Rajesh. The school has also been promoting green energy also by installing six kilo watt solar power station.

Another example of community water harvesting programme is that of Cedar Spring School, Ranjit Avenue, which under the Nature School programme of EcoAmritsar, has implemented water harvesting system and eco-friendly activities on its premises. The school is already imparting green education as a part of the syllabus. Punjab Natshala too has been using water harvesting system. DAV Public School is one of the institutions in city doing its bit to conserve rain water.

Some residents of the city have also installed systems to harvest water. Amit Bawa, a city-based businessman is one of the few individuals, who is spreading the message actively. “I have installed a 100 ft bore solely for rain water harvesting at my new residence at Loharka Road. Since the MC has already announced to make water harvesting mandatory, it’s something we have to do for our own benefit,” says Amit.

Going green, he will also install solar power panel to reduce energy consumption. “People do not have to wait for any authority or forced motivation to ensure saving natural resources. It will eventually help our future if not immediate present. Water harvesting should be taken seriously in city,” says Amit.

Dr Rakesh Sharma, from Voice of Amritsar, has been actively promoting water harvesting through individual participation. He believes that though the individual efforts are laudable, the lack of authority has not ensured its proper implementation. “Water harvesting system is not a very expensive deal. A bore of 40 ft and an investment between Rs 30,000 to 40,000 serves the purpose. But some motivation should be provided through subsidies or ensuring that completion certificate will only be issued after checking that the water harvesting system in place,” says Sharma.

Amritsar, July 22
Folklore Research Academy, Hind-Pak Dosti Manch along with Pakistan-India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy welcomed the decision of the Pakistan government to release 57 fishing boats of Indian fishermen.

Leaders of these organisations feel that India must reciprocate by releasing Pakistani fishermens seized boats. The 57 boats are expected to return to India in September after necessary repairs.

According to an estimate of these organisations, over the years more than 800 boats of Indian fishermen were seized by Pakistan’s Maritime Security Agency (MSA) and Indian Coast Guard has seized around 200 Pakistani fishermen boats. Most of these boats have rotted and were not seaworthy.

These organisations said both countries must repair those boats, which are in seaworthy conditions and sail smoothly after some renovation. Pakistan-India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy along with other civil society organisations has been demanding that India and Pakistan release boats seized by each other. These boats are the only source of livelihood of the fishing community.

“As Indian and Pakistan government has decided to give priority to the fishermen’s issue, we sincerely demand that this is the right time to release and repatriate all fishermen from the custody of Pakistan and India,” added the organisations.

Amritsar, July 22
The District Legal Services Authority organised an essay competition at Government Girls School, Mall Road, here today. The topic of the essay was “Fundamental duties”, which aimed at increasing awareness among the students. The decision to organise such functions was taken during the all-India meet of the State Legal Services Authorities, held at Lucknow.

The competition was organised in two categories for Class VIII to X and Class X to XII. The authority had earlier held the competition in all local schools, whose winners had participated in the cluster-level competition. The winners thereof had participated in the district-level competition, organised today.

Gurbir Singh, District and Sessions Judge-cum-Chairman, District Legal Services Authority, said a total of 58 students from various government schools participated in the district-level competition today. 

Amritsar: Many schools in the city opened today after a summer break. Alexandra School, DAV Public School and Bhavan’s SL Public School were among the few schools which resumed their academic session after a summer break. DAV school commenced its second session by organising a havan to seek the blessings of the Almighty.

Schoolchildren along with their teachers paid obeisance to the Almighty and prayed for success in their endeavors. Regional director, Amritsar zone, DAV Public Schools, Dr Neelam Kamra, conveyed her best wishes to students and asked them to put in their best efforts. Principal of DAV school, Dr Neera Sharma, welcomed the students. She said it was time to work hard and be well prepared for challenges ahead. She blessed the students for the upcoming semester. Meanwhile Bhavan’s SL Public School also organised ‘Gayatri Havan’ on the occasion of re-opening of the school after a summer break. — TNS