Jalandhar, July 27
With the city bus service (CBS) announcing to shut down its operations on July 30 in the city, the operators have now threatened to surrender the bus permits of the entire fleet of 15 buses to the District Transport Officer (DTO) on Monday to protest against his failure to curb the plying of more than 25,000 illegal diesel autos in the city.

Inaugurated by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in 2008, the fleet operators of the CBS have decided to finally close down their operations after incurring heavy losses due to the unchecked growth of the illegally operating auto-rickshaws plying in the city.

“So many times we have warned the district administration to restrict the autos plying without permits on our routes, as we are suffering huge losses due to them who hooked on to each of our bus in huge numbers. However, the administration did not pay any heed to this. Now, we have decided to shut down the operation completely in the city,” said Parveen Olivera, manager, CBS, Jalandhar. He also said that the CBS had suffered heavy losses to the tune of Rs 6 to 7 crore in the six years of its operations in the city. “We were not able to recover even the cost of our buses from this project,” said Olivera.

Initially, the CBS project was running on two routes, comprising bus stand to Kartarpur and to the city railway station. Recently, due to hundreds of autos plying on the latter route, the CBS stopped its operations on the railway station route. However, with hundreds of autos plying now on the Kartarpur route as well, the CBS has now decided to go off road permanently by the end of this month.

District Transport Officer Rupinder Pal Singh said he had called a meeting of the bus operators and auto-drivers on Monday and would try to resolve the issue to prevent any inconvenience to the commuters.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had imposed a ban on the registration of diesel-run autos in the city following a writ petition filed by some activists in 2009. But it was lifted after the state government took the plea that there was no other mode of transportation available in the city and that the facility for the CNG fuel was not available. Following orders of the High Court to allow only compressed natural gas (CNG) and Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) autos in three major cities of the state, the transport authorities had immediately stopped the registration of new diesel-run autos in Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar in the same year.

Jalandhar, July 27
Activists of the Pendu Mazdoor Union here today declared that state-level meetings, rallies and marches would be held from August 1 to 14 in protest against the Dalits of Balad Kalan being lathi-charged and prevented from participating in an auction of panchayat land.

They would also hold protests outside the DC offices across the state and observe August 15 this year as Black Independence Day.

The activists said while the said protests would be held against the government’s “anti-Dalit” approach and policies, these would also support the PMU’s demand to raise a voice against the land and “other rights of Dalits being denied”.

The activists said the immediate reason to hold the protests was that the Dalits in the said village (who were also supporting the Zameen Prapti Sangharsh Committee) were prevented from attending the auction, lathi-charged. Also, Dalit women were kept in the police station overnight.

The said action should be taken against the officials responsible for undertaking the aforementioned acts towards the villagers and against the sarpanch of Matoi village under the SC/ST Act. The guilty officials should also be dismissed.

They said the auction of the auctioned panchayati lands should be cancelled and re-auction should be held for Dalits at lesser rates. They also demanded that activists and Dalits locked up in jails should be released unconditionally.

Apart from these, the union’s previously aired demands for Dalits and the landless include 10-marla plots for them, actions against panchyats refusing to pass proposals to grant lands to the landless, receipt of requisite annual employment or unemployment allowance as per the MGNREGA scheme, among others.

The activists said on August 18 the marches outside the DC offices across the state would be held and the protests would go on for an indefinite period, till the demands were met by the government. In addition, they said, in protest against the land rights of the poor being denied, the activists shall also observe August 15 as “Black Independence Day” wherein they will wave black flags, burn effigies of the government and also protest against the Punjab Prevention of Damage to Public and private Property Bill, 2014.

State president PMU Tarsem Peter and general secretary Avtar Singh Rasoolpur said the government machinery had fallen prey to the politics of the rich. They said while the SC commission had also backed the fact that village landlords were grabbing one-third of the village lands reserved for Dalits, the government had not done anything to settle the issue. Due to this, the Zameen Prapti Sangharsh Committee and the PMU were forced to take up the struggle route.

Jalandhar, July 27
Days after Health teams first visited the Noorpur village to take stock of the situation there, villagers have now decided to approach the SSP to convey their anger against the severe and insanitary conditions prevailing in the village.

Two days after The Tribune first brought to light the plight of the village, streets are yet to be cleared of the muck and no arrangements have been made to drain out the stinking waste water out of the village.

Sanjeev, a resident of the village, said, “No one has come to ask about the villagers’ health. The sarpanch had visited, but so far no solution has been sought for the problems which hound the village. Meanwhile, we have also been told to approach whatever media we can.”

Most of the villagers in the area are poor labourers working in factories or as daily wagers.

Residents have alleged that for years, their problems have remained unaddressed.

While most say they can’t afford to visit the Civil Hospital due to jobs or less means, they said they had been taking medicines from the local rural dispensary.

However, some residents alleged that the treatment from the dispensary was also not up to the mark.

Resident Sunita Bhatti said, “Despite taking medicines, the fever of residents isn’t going down and often similar tablets for various ailments are being given.”

Even as the Health teams visited the worst-affected part of the village two days ago, the cases of jaundice continue to pour in.

Residents in about 80 homes, spread across four to seven streets in Noorpur village, are suffering from jaundice and typhoid. So far, about 20 to 25 patients have complained of jaundice and typhoid. Digestive disorders, persistent fever and skin problems are also common in the area.

District Development and Panchayat Officer Avtar Singh Bullar said, “Land has been earmarked for the disposal of dirty water in the area, but so far the case of the Noorpur village hasn’t come to my notice, even though we are regularly informed about the state of villages and water sanitation. I will get it checked tomorrow morning. And though qualified rural staff is attending to needs of villagers, we will also see if there is any problem on this front.”

Jalandhar, July 27
To curb the repeated snarls caused by the ever-increasing traffic in the city, the district administration has decided to follow an 18-point programme to streamline the public transport system in the city.

For this, a committee under the chairman ship of the Deputy Commissioner-cum-chairman of the District Road Safety committee has been formed which would look into ways to provide a safe and pleasurable experience to the city commuters.

Among the major issues, the committee will look into the removal of electricity poles from the 35 km Road between HMV College and DAV College. Also, the committee would identify spots for the approved stands for auto-rickshaws and taxis. Presently, despite having the permit of stage carriers, hundreds of autos ply as contract carriers picking us commuters every now and then. Also, a plan to spread awareness about safe commuting will also be devised for the city residents. Talk shows, Nukkad nataks and media advertisements will be used for creating awareness among people.

The committee has also planned to construct speed breakers on the roads adjoining the national highways passing through the city. Also the district administration has decided to tighten the noose around the people parking their vehicles haphazardly in the city. 

Jalandhar, July 27
The Agriculture Department, Jalandhar, has failed to convince farmers to bring more area under the maize crop under the crop diversification programme.

The blame for this lies on the lack of minimum support price (MSP) and less price for spring maize. Apart from this, poor rain in the region is a big reason that farmers are not inclined towards the maize crop.

The Agriculture Department had set a target to increase the area under the maize crop up to 16,000 hectares this year from 11,700 hectares last year in Jalandhar district. Yet, it managed to target nearly 14,000 hectares.

Despite the fact that the Agriculture Department here had staged a campaign to encourage farmers towards crop diversification, the latter do not seem to have not been convinced with it.

The Agriculture Department had launched a village-to-village campaign from May 20 to 30 in which it attempted to motivate farmers to adopt other crops like maize, pulses, sunflower and sugarcane with routine stuff like wheat and paddy. Apart from this, there was a 50 per cent discount on the maize seeds provided by the Agriculture Department.

The other reason to promote the maize crop was to maintain the watertable in the state, as maize crop needs far less water than paddy crop.

Ironically, last year the price of spring maize was Rs 1,300 per quintal, whereas this year the price of the same is Rs 1,050. This is despite the fact that the input cost has been increasing day by day. The prices of fertilisers, herbicides, insecticides, diesel and labour are other factors that have been raising the input cost.

Speaking to Jalandhar Tribune, Chief Agriculture Officer Jalandhar, Dr Suttantar Kumar, said the lack of the MSP had been the reason that discourages farmers to adopt maize crop. However, less than average rainfall also confused farmers like what to do.

He said the issue of the MSP had been discussed with Punjab Agriculture Minister at a meeting a few weeks ago. The matter is under consideration. However, we are optimistic that something positive would happen.

Dr Suttantar said there were around 125 products that could be produced from maize crop, including cattle feed, cornflakes, oil, ethanol, sucrose, glucose etc. The government must do something to encourage the maize crop.

Jalandhar, July 27
Accusing the Punjab Technical University (PTU) of being negligent in resuming its learning centres in the state, the PTU Learning Centres' Association, Punjab, is planning to intensify its protest. As part of their protest, the association will observe a chain hunger strike.

A representative of the association, Sukhwinder Singh, said a meeting will be held on Monday to decide the future course of action on getting learning centres opened in the state. Due to the dilly-dallying by PTU officials, the future of more than 50,000 students and learning centre operators has been put at stake, he alleged.

He said the University Grants Commission (UGC) revised its guidelines in 2012 according to which the universities cannot run their learning centres outside the state under the distance education programme. Since then, all learning centres in Punjab have remained shut because of the stubborn attitude of the PTU as they have been asking for the UGC's approval to open learning centres across the country.

He claimed that the PTU is allowed to give permission to learning centres based in Punjab. Yet it is not being done, he alleged.

Sukhwinder Singh said of the 450 learning centres in Punjab, 250 have been closed whereas the other 200 centres are not able to admit new students. They have been carrying on with students under various undergraduate programmes.

"Despite repeated requests, memorandums and protests including road blockades, dharnas and letters to the state government the university has not been paying attention to our plight," he added. Sukhwinder Singh said tired with it, they are now planning to organize a chain hunger strike. 

Jalandhar, July 27
After creating waves in Amritsar for an year, Computer aided or computer "navigated" surgery was introduced in the city two years ago. However, the technology that utilizes a tracking system and pre-programmed software to provide a "map" of the operative field leading to potentially greater precision and accuracy has lost charm amongst the city Orthopaedicians in a span of two years only due to various reasons. Out of the 65 Orthopaedicians in the city, only three of them are doing it presently.

"The navigation technique in joint replacements is very recent as compared to the manual one. In Punjab, it has arrived only three years ago. Although much research work is being done in various countries into this field but we will have to wait for few more years to actually access the potential of this technique over the surgeries done manually," said Dr. GP Singh, Orthopaedician, Lajwanti hospital. He also informed that since not much data is presently available as the technique is a very recent one, the doctors here are avoiding doing joint surgeries through the new technique.

The use of this technology indeed is very beneficial in certain ways. According to Dr. Shubhang Aggarwal, Joint Replacement Surgeon at the Satyam hospital," The computer guides the accurate bony cuts, the surgical cut can remain limited with smaller incision and limited soft tissue dissection."

He further informed that most of the development in the field of joint replacement surgery today is in what is called as 'minimally invasive surgery' (MIS). "In non obese patients, knee and hip replacement is possible today through a 10 to 12 centimeter incision. The techniques have evolved that minimize or completely eliminate the damage to the muscles, thereby hastening the post surgery recovery," said Dr Aggarwal during the annual CME conference of Indian Medical Association of Jalandhar.

He also informed that due to this, a patient can stand and walk from third day onwards after surgery and can be discharged from the hospital as early as fifth day after surgery. Computer guided navigation assistance further facilitates the minimally invasive surgery also.

But on the contrary, some experts feel that the process is very time consuming and is also not much different than the manual one. "It takes around 40 to 50 minutes to set the system installed for the navigation surgery which is almost doubles the time taken for a manual surgery. With so many surgeries in a single day, it becomes very tiresome and time consuming for a surgeon to follow it religiously.

So, although most of the doctors here has the requisite infrastructure, they avoid doing it frequently," said Dr. Dilbans Singh Pandher, Joint replacement Surgeon at Satyam Hospital. He also informed that out of the 30 odd joint replacement surgeries performed daily in the city only 3 per cent are being performed by the navigation technique. Dr Pandher has recently returned from a week long scientific exchange programme at the Exeter Hip centre, UK, one of the best cemented hip centres in the world.

During conventional total knee replacement surgery, a rod is inserted in the cavity of the thighbone (femur) to set the alignment of the leg. In computer guided navigation surgery, the computer sets the alignment axis and therefore rod does not require to be inserted in the thighbone. Any potential for the bone marrow and fat reaching the lungs and cause fat embolism is thereby reduced.

Jalandhar, July 27
La Pure has launched its products in Jalandhar after having met with success in Ludhiana. The brand promises patrons 100 per cent unadulterated milk, which it ensures by using the latest technology to milk its cattle, process and store it.

La Pure came about as a result of a partnership between the Progressive Dairy Farmers Association (PDFA) and the Progressive Dairy solutions (PDS).The PDFA already has a membership of 6,000.

PDFA keeps its cattle in extremely sanitary conditions and houses them in climate controlled shelters. They were the first to introduce fodder management systems in India and also do a lot to educate farmers/breeders in Punjab by generating awareness about the latest techniques and technologies that are available to them. The PDS at its end, has tie-ups with CID in Belgium for clean milk solutions, OLMIX in France for the prevention of animal diseases and also with BERG and SCMITH for animal health and protection. Punjab today is on the national map of cattle breeders, thanks to initiatives such as this.

Speaking at the launch, Daljit Singh, MD, PDFA said, "La Pure promises 100 per cent unadulterated milk and its products, using the latest technology to milk its cows and also to process and store it. They implement health management systems to ensure healthy cattle and a safe product." — TNS