Six nabbed with narcotics, illicit liquor 
Amritsar, July 26
The city police have nabbed six persons for possessing narcotic substance and illicit liquor.

Three women nabbed for snatching purse 
Amritsar, July 26
The Cantonment police have nabbed three women for allegedly snatching a purse from Paramjit Kaur, a resident of Khazala village in Tarsikka.

Decline in green cover
MC says no info on number of trees in city
Amritsar, July 26
The NGO, Mission Aagaaz, working for environment is peeved at the Municipal Corporation as in a response to an RTI query, the latter replied that it has no detail of the number of trees and their varieties in the city.

15 NGOs join hands to form Amritsar Civil Society
Amritsar, July 26
Fifteen NGOs working in the city joined hands to form the Amritsar Civil Society to take up issues concerning the holy city as a force. The NGOs' representatives pledged to work jointly for various issues as cutting of trees, sanitation, regularisation of illegal hotels and many more issues.

PSPCL employee complains of derogatory remark
Amritsar, July 26
Power Corporation Employees Association, Sanjhi Sangarsh Committee, PSPCL, has accused the hotelier who had earlier filed a complaint of asking for bribe against few employees with the Vigilance Bureau of using derogatory words against their caste.

Amritsar, July 26
The delay in the ambitious project to restore Ram Bagh, which houses the summer palace of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, has already become an issue of public outcry. But the release of Rs 2.32 crore grant by the Union Tourism Ministry is expected to accelerate its execution.

Scarcity of funds and dearth of conservation agencies for restoring heritage structures have delayed the opening of the summer palace. Hospitality industrialists have been pressing for its early opening to prolong the stay of tourists in the holy city.

Much of the ground floor of the main building of the palace was turned into a museum. Now, the heritage building is being restored under the supervision of the Punjab Tourism Department.

A senior citizen, Jaswant Singh, who is a regular visitor to the Ram Bagh spread over 80 acres of land, said he had been watching the digging up of roads and pulling down of Baradari and other buildings, and had been raising his voice. He said the conservation work has been going on for the past over five years and they were fed up with prolong execution of the project.

In all these years, there is no visit of tourists to the summer palace as museum is lying closed and construction material was lying scattered over the area. He said, thousands of tourists visiting the holy city daily were unable to see a precious site related the Khalsa Raj.

The Ram Bagh includes the summer palace of the Maharaja, fountains and Baradari gardens, replicating the Shalimar Gardens of Lahore (Pakistan).

The Ministry of Culture, government of India, has reportedly approved Rs 200 crore to make Amritsar the tourist hub by undertaking projects to restore monuments to original shapes, and the restoration work at the site began years ago.

Officials associated with the restoration project admitted that the progress of the restoration of the heritage site was tardy and added that in India there were very few conservation contractors with wherewithal. They said the government had sanctioned Rs 2.5 crore for redoing the garden and the contract was finalised only in October 2007. They said the roof work of the summer palace of the Maharaja had been completed, but some other projects also required to be completed. The new design based on historical background of the Ram bagh had been located which was being replicated on the basis of the Charbagh design.

Officials and conservationists were pleasantly surprised by the discovery of some resplendent frescoes found on the terrace of Maharaja Ranjit Singh's summer palace during the undergoing restoration work. The only room on the terrace had been out of bounds for the visitors and had remained locked for several decades. But when it was opened at last, they were captivated by the frescoes painted on the walls.

The wall paintings display intricate floral patterns and episodes from the 'Raas Leela' of Lord Krishna.

The priceless frescoes are an invaluable part of Punjab's heritage. Experts are of the view that the period of Maharaja Ranjit Singh was a rennaisance period in Punjab when art and architecture flourished under the patronage of the ruler.

The summer palace underwent several changes during the British period and walls were put up between pillars to make rooms that destroyed the aesthetic structure of the Darbar Hall and now attempts are being made to restore the Darbar Hall to its original form, officials associated with the conservation project said.

They said restoration and conservation of heritage sites required sensitive handling and expertise with painstaking efforts. Landscaping of the major portion of the Ram Bagh has been finished and morning walkers and visitors are enjoying it.

Amritsar, July 26
Repeated incidents of robberies and snatchings are reflecting deteriorating law and order situation in the city. In a recent instance several drunken youths tried to kidnap a girl near the busy District Shopping Complex of Ranjit Avenue when she came out of the VLCC to return home late last evening.

The victim alleged that they tried to bundle her in their car. The girl raised an alarm for help following which people reached the spot and rescued the girl. The drunken youths fled away.

Later, the victim lodged a complaint at the Civil Lines police against the unidentified youths, following which a case under Sections 365 and 511 of the IPC was registered.

In the same complex, a youth had snatched SUV from the son of hotelier after injuring him with a sharp-edged weapon. Following this incident, the senior police authorities had claimed to have intensified patrolling in the area, but nothing have been done in this regard so far, claimed the shopkeepers. The area has a police post made by the shopkeepers.

Vavinder Mahajan, SHO, Civil Lines, said as far as the kidnapping case is concerned, the police have registered a case after the victim lodged a complaint. However, the charges were being verified. He said after the recent incident of snatching of SUV, permanent patrolling party of two constables has been deputed at the District Shopping Complex. However, they were on the other side of the complex when the alleged kidnapping case occurred.

The residents of Ranjit Avenue area are critical of the police functioning with the repeated instances coming to fore.

A day before yesterday, some persons snatched mobile and cash from a local resident. The incident occurred just few meters away from the Ranjit Avenue police post. However, the victim raised an alarm while the people passing through the area nabbed one of the accused who was later handed over to the police. The accused was identified as Arjun Masih. The police also recovered narcotics from his possession.

A few weeks ago, a motorcyclist was shot at and injured by several armed persons in the Ranjit Avenue C-block market after a minor dispute.

Dr Suresh Chauhan, a resident of the area, said though the police officials are deployed in certain parts, they are not active and attentive. He pointed out that being a vast area Ranjit Avenue has many entry and exit points which make it more vulnerable.

Police Commissioner Jatinder Singh Aulakh said he had already passed necessary instructions to the police authorities. No laxity would be allowed in the duty and those found negligent would be taken to task

Amritsar, July 26
The police personnel today heaved a sigh of relief following the cancellation of SAD's 'Panthic Conclave' which was scheduled to take place at the Manjit Sahib Diwan Hall in the Golden Temple Complex tomorrow.

The police officials not only from Amritsar City but also from other districts of border range were called for the security purpose. A large number of policemen were also summoned from Ludhiana, Patiala and other parts of Punjab.

The conclave was called by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) to plan future course of action over the formation of separate Gurdwara Management Committee for shrines in Haryana. The conclave was cancelled following the instructions from the Akal Takht today afternoon.

Over 5,000 policemen were deployed on duty to ensure tight security for the mega event. The policemen were deputed near Manji Sahib Diwan Hall on the Darbar Sahib premises. All the police personnel, including senior police authorities were on their toes to make foolproof security arrangements at the venue while the city police have also planned to restrict the entry of four wheelers inside the walled city.

The police officials were positioned at the naka installed around the walled city and near the Golden Temple area since morning. Nakas were installed at every entry point, including from elevated road, Gheo Mandi road, Hall Gate and Sultanwind Gate. Metal detectors were installed at various points while the whole complex of holy shrine was surrounded with the huge number of policemen.

Senior police authorities, including Police Commissioner Jatinder Singh Aulakh, HS Brar, ADCP, visited the spot to supervise the security arrangements. Bomb squad was also pressed into service in order to thwart any untoward incident. Anti riot police was also stationed near the spot.

As soon as the news regarding cancellation of Panthic Conclave flashed, the officials were relieved. "Though it is part and parcel of our duty, but yes it has come as relieve for us," said a senior police official. He said full arrangements were made to provide foolproof security at the venue. Had the conclave been organised as per the plan it would have been a hard time for the police, especially to control and divert the traffic, besides restricting the entry of four wheelers inside the walled city. Various officials of district administration were also on duty for making necessary arrangements.

Amritsar, July 26
The city police have nabbed six persons for possessing narcotic substance and illicit liquor.

Those arrested were identified as Amandeep Singh of Mahidipur village (Khemkaran), now residing at Narli (Khalra) village, Balkar Singh of Sultanwind, Satnam Singh of Rasoolpur Kalar village, Vinod Kumar of Putlighar and Prem Singh of the Gate Hakima area.

While Amandeep was nabbed for possessing 120gm heroin, Balkar was held with 500gm opium. Similarly, Satnam, Vinod and Prem Singh were arrested for allegedly possessing 110gm, 200gm and 100gm of narcotic powder, respectively. They were all booked under Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Meanwhile, the Sadar police have arrested Rakesh of Mustafabad located on the Batala road with 48 bottles of whisky. He could not produce necessary documents regarding the liquor following which the police confiscated it and impounded his three-wheeler.

Amritsar, July 26
The Cantonment police have nabbed three women for allegedly snatching a purse from Paramjit Kaur, a resident of Khazala village in Tarsikka.

The incident occurred near the Putlighar area where the complainant had arrived for purchasing cloth.

Malook Singh, investigating officer, said the accused tried to flee away from spot but the victim raised an alarm following which the onlookers nabbed the women. They were identified as Bhawna, Kavita and Sumitra of Godian village, Nagpur, Maharashtra.

The police recovered Rs 700 from their possession. He said a case under Section 382 and 34 of the IPC has been registered against them. They were produced in the court which sent them to judicial remand till August 8.

Amritsar, July 26
The NGO, Mission Aagaaz, working for environment is peeved at the Municipal Corporation as in a response to an RTI query, the latter replied that it has no detail of the number of trees and their varieties in the city.

Mission Aagaaz General Secretary Gurbhej Singh Sandhu said through an RTI he had demanded a copy of the NOC given by the Municipal Corporation, Amritsar, with the approval of the house of councilors to cut down trees from Bhandari Bridge to India gate. Similarly, NOCs for chopping of trees from the Circular road to the Kitchlu chowk and the Sant Singh Sukha Singh chowk to the Kitchlu chowk were also demanded.

Sandhu said in response to all these queries the MC officials replied that "no information is available on record in the office of the undersigned".

His query regarding the total number of trees, including, varieties, falling under the jurisdiction of the MC also elicited the same reply "no information is available on record in the office of the undersigned". He said in response to his RTI on December 31, 2013 the MC official had provided him the number of trees chopped to 858 for widening of road from the Circular road to the Kitchlu Chowk. He said in that case the MC had figures but for the entire city they did not have the exact numbers. 

Amritsar, July 26
Fifteen NGOs working in the city joined hands to form the Amritsar Civil Society to take up issues concerning the holy city as a force. The NGOs' representatives pledged to work jointly for various issues as cutting of trees, sanitation, regularisation of illegal hotels and many more issues.

PC Bali, a prominent member of the civil society and an RTI activist, said: "The Amritsar Civil Society will work as a watchdog. Already many NGOs were working in their own capacity. Now, we have decided to work as a united force."

The civil society said they would form a legal wing with the presence of prominent lawyers from the society to take up the legal course of action against illegal cutting of trees and governments move to regularise illegal hotels.

The society members said the NGOs would also retain their independent identity along with fighting together for the common causes. The members said the civil society would be non-political group. 

Amritsar, July 26
Power Corporation Employees Association, Sanjhi Sangarsh Committee, PSPCL, has accused the hotelier who had earlier filed a complaint of asking for bribe against few employees with the Vigilance Bureau of using derogatory words against their caste.

In a complaint submitted with Raj Kumar Verka, Vice-Chairman, National SC Commission, an employee working at Power Corporation’s sub-station near the Golden Temple, assistant lineman Ajay Kumar has accused Prabhjot Singh of misbehaving and using derogatory words against his caste on July 3.

Prabhjot Singh had earlier filed a complaint with the Power Corporation and Vigilance Bureau alleging that three employees, including a junior engineer, who had taken Rs 300 from him for rectifying an electricity problem at his hotel near the Golden Temple On June 15. Prahbjot had recorded the incident with the help of a CCTV camera at his hotel.

Alleging inaction on his complaints, Prabhjot had initiated a hunger strike outside the Vigilance Bureau’s office six days ago.

Meanwhile, the PSPCL employees’ Sanjhi Sangarsh Committee burnt an effigy of Prahbjot Singh alleging that he had used derogatory language with one of their colleges on July 4. The employees alleged that Prahbjot was blackmailing employees using the video footage.

Prabhjot had earlier in April last year got three policemen suspended as he had recorded them while taking money from him.

While talking to The Tribune, Prabhjot Singh, said, “How can I use derogatory words for anybody’s caste when I myself belong to a backward class? I would meet National SC Commission Vice-Chairman and submit my caste certificate.” He said, “The employees are trying to divert the attention from the real issue but I will continue this fight until an action is initiated against the accused employees.”

On the other hand various associations of the employees stated that if the police fail to take an appropriate action against Prabhjot they would intensify their protest. 

Amritsar, July 26
Members of various industrialist associations today placed difficulties being faced by the industries in the city to the Punjab state Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) director KL Sharma.

Members of various industrial associations, including, Focal Point Industrial Welfare Association (FPIWA) and Textile Manufacturing Association participated in an interactive session with the PSPCL official.

The participating industrialists handed over a memorandum outlining their demands to the PSPCL director. The FPIWA, president, Kamal Dalmi, brought to the notice of the PSPCL that the dearth of meters with the local office of the PSPCL delayed repair of fault work. He said a plot reserved for installation of 66 KVA power sub-station has been lying vacant for the past nearly 30 years at the old Focal Point Mehta road.

He said irregular maintenance of transformers and delay in refilling of oil was causing frequent break down in power supply.

Dalmia said the PSPCL was charging commercial rate of power unit which was higher than the neighbouring rates. He said this imbalance was denying them a fair play in competition. He suggested that instead of imposing long power break out on industry the PSPCL must procure the same from the national power grid corporation. 

Amritsar, July 26
A seminar on 'Consumers' Rights and Legal Remedies' was today jointly organised by Bharat Vikas Parishad, Dr Ambedkar Studies Centre and the Postgraduate Department of Economics, DAV College.

DAV College vice-principal Prof HS Walia was the chief guest on the occasion. Senior member of the District Consumers Disputes Redressal Forum, Tarn Taran, RD Sharma and director of Dr Ambedkar Studies Centre Prof Vishaw Bandhu were the guest of honour.

While addressing the seminar, Prof HS Walia said, "As per the provisions of Consumer Protection Act 1986 and amendments made in this Act in 1993 the law meant for redressal of disputes is quite comprehensive."

He said, "These cover the issues relating to quantity, quality, potency, purity, prices of goods and services. However, there is a need to educate people regarding the law pertaining to consumer rights."

RD Sharma in his address elaborated the legal process required to lodge complaints with the District Consumers Disputes Redressal Forum.

Prof Vishaw Bandhu, Head, Department of History, and Director of the Dr Ambedkar Studies Centre announced to organise these camps at various places of the city to make people aware of their consumers' rights and legal remedies.

Among others Bharat Vikas Parishad secretary Ram Lubhaya, Prof Ashma Walia, Prof Seema Arora, senior members of Bharat Vikas Parishad Ramesh Sharma, Brij Mohan Sharma and Kiran Kumar shared their views with the students and teachers.

Besides overall development of the holy city there are many issues which never got the priority they deserved. No ‘Dog Control’ is a reason for a dog bite every 30 seconds and many a deaths due to rabies every year. It is disgusting that nobody is made accountable for these bites and deaths. As the local authorities have miserably failed to tackle the problem for want of funds and infrastructure the new MP should intervene to ensure that Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules 2001 are followed in observance. These rules stipulate that stray dogs be sterlised to prevent multiplication and permitted to live in nature before their population gradually diminishes. This is an uphill task which no MP has ever bothered to accomplish. By doing so, he will save the public from the onslaught of 37,500 stray dogs which proliferate and roam in thickly populated colonies.

Dr Soshil Rattan