Ludhiana, August 8
Upset over police inaction, residents of Bokar Dogran village near Ladhowal blocked National Highway-1 this morning. Commuters remained stuck in traffic jams for two hours. It took officials four hours to regulate the traffic flow.

The commuters had to face a tough time reaching their respective destinations. Long queues of vehicles were seen on the stretch leading from Ladhowal Chowk to Tiger Safari. The blockade was lifted following ACP Gurpreet Singh Sikand’s assurance.

The residents lamented that the police were not acting against a liquor vendor.

Last evening, two groups clashed in the village. The protesters said the vendor thrashed a villager, Kamaldeep Singh, following which the clash took place. Village sarpanch Kashmiri Lal alleged that two police officials visited the village, but did not take action against the vendor. He said the accused had bribed the police officials.

SHO Hardeep Singh said he had summoned both the groups, but before reaching the police station, they entered into a scuffle. On being asked about the corruption charge, the SHO said the officials did not take any bribe.

One of the complainants Kashmiri Lal stated that 10 persons belonging to the rival group, attacked him with sharp-edged weapons. He said Vijay Kumar, Dawarka Das, Jodh Kumar Ninder Kumar and Bhajani inflicted injuries on Inderjeet and Rakesh, adding that they also pelted stones at his house.

Ludhiana, August 8
Power supply remained suspended for several hours following a snag in 220 KV Lalton Kalan sub-station today.

Residents in the affected areas said they had to sweat it out in the extremely hot and humid weather condition for more than four hours.

In many households, inverters stopped working and the harried residents kept calling the complaint offices and the customer care centre of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) to know the reason for the disruption and approximate time that the restoration would take.

As the water supply network of the Municipal Corporation (tubewells and submersible pumps) is directly dependent on the power supply, people in the affected localities had to go without water as well in the afternoon.

PSPCL officials said jumper wires at 220 KV Lalton Kalan sub-station had burnt down, with the result that one circuit feeding Hambran sub-station, which supplied power to nearly 20 per cent of the city localities, was rendered non-operational. As the second circuit on 220 KV line between the two sub-stations got overloaded, it also blew out.

The officials said one circuit at Lalton Kalan sub-station feeding Hambran sub-station was restored after about 45 minutes while it took nearly four hours to rectify the damaged jumpers and restore the second circuit. “The supply to some of the areas was restored in about an hour while in the remaining areas, power was restored after 2 pm,” they added.

Meanwhile, people in the affected areas kept fuming and fretting due to power disruption, more so because they were completely in the dark about the reason for such a long spell of outage.

“The complaint centre or the customer care cell of the PSPCL had no idea about the snag or the approximate time for the restoration of the supply. Their response was vague at best, or rude in some cases which added to our misery in such unfavourable weather conditions,” said Tarlochan Singh, a resident of Civil Lines.

Ludhiana, August 8
The city is in the grip of typhoid and viral fever. Experts held change of weather responsible for the rise in infectious diseases.

Dr Kanwal Maseeh, Medical Superintendent, Christian Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, said, “Last week, more than 250 patients with viral fever came to the hospital. We have received four-five cases of typhoid in one week.” He said residents should avoid eating at roadside eateries.

More and more residents are complaining of high fever, chest infection and cough. Dr Tarun Bajaj, Medical Superintendent, Gurdev Hospital, said, “We attend to 20-25 patients every day.”

Children are also falling prey to infectious diseases. Dr Daljit Singh, principal, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, said, “Residents should stop using air-conditioners as the weather is changing.” He said: “Five to 10 cases of typhoid keep pouring in every week.”

Ludhiana, August 8
They love each other for a reason, and the reason is love. With Raksha Bandhan falling this Sunday (August 10), the city is all set to celebrate the special bond.

Rakhis and other things related to the festival bedeck markets. Akriti, a resident, said she bought several rakhis for her brother and cousins.

This time, make-it-yourself rakhi kits too are gaining popularity.

“There is always a craze among children to create things on their own. They can design rakhis the way they want,” said Vijay Kumar from Oswal Stationery.

Rakhi is a symbol of affection. Weaving the thread is like getting submerged in love.

“When I told my brother that I am making a rakhi for him, he seemed surprised and said he was looking forward to getting it tied,” she said.

“I think making rakhis involves your creativity and enhances that art and craft skills as well. So this time, I got a rakhi kit for my daughter rather than a ready-made rakhi. Now, it is up to her to put the different decorative elements in different layers and create her own new designer rakhi,” said Meenakshi, a resident. 

Ludhiana, August 8
Thieves took away a bag containing gold jewellery and cash from a car at J Block of BRS Nagar this evening.

Doraha, August 8
Sanitary conditions are in a deplorable state in Doraha. The Sher-e-Punjab Dhaba street and the adjoining streets are flooded with sewerage leading to inconvenience to the residents as well as passersby.

The authorities concerned are yet to visit the area.

Residents claimed that solution to the grave problem seems like a distant dream.

“We are sure that no authority can pull us out of the mess. The sewerage, which remains standing on our streets, has been here for years altogether now. Seasons come and seasons go but the sewerage stands here irrespective of the climatic conditions. We may fall prey to various diseases, suffer multiple infections or face dingy conditions but who cares? During monsoons, the conditions become all the more deplorable. The sewerage emits such foul smell that no person can survive in such an unhygienic condition,” rued Jandeep Kaushal, a resident.

“The sewer pipes are narrow, so they get choked easily. The lack of provision of drainage of sewerage is a major problem. It has aggravated with the passage of time. The committee is yet to find a suitable space for the drainage of sewerage and the setting up of a water treatment plant. The drainage system gets choked to such an extent that even a small downpour leaves the condition of streets and houses miserable. Even under normal conditions, the streets turn into a pool of filthy garbage water,” irked a resident of Sher-e-Punjab Street.

“We cannot stay in such tormenting conditions where it has become so difficult to breathe. The assembled water exposes residents to a number of diseases. If any epidemic breaks in the town, the council will be responsible for the same,” said a resident.

Sanitary Inspector Vimal Kumar said the problem has worsened because even the adjoining private hospital releases the waste water in the area. “They have been warned several times but to no avail. Moreover, for the last four days, even the municipal employees are on strike. The drain is not working due to the work on the Doraha-Neelon stretch. As far as the present situation is concerned, I ensure that the needful will be done at the earliest.”

Ludhiana, August 8
A delegation of PSPCL engineers will meet Ludhiana Police Commissioner and seek immediate action against the policeman, who allegedly assaulted Haibowal SDO Parminder Singh recently.

The decision in this regard was taken during an emergency meeting of members of the PSEB Engineers’ Association, Ludhiana region, held at the PSEB guest house.

In spite of assurances given by the Police Department, nothing concrete had been done to arrest the accused, members said, adding that there was a widespread resentment in the engineer community. They claimed that since the accused was a policeman, he was being provided logistics support by some cops to evade arrest.

Another important issue that the members of the engineers’ body discussed was shifting of PSPCL offices in Ludhiana. The GLADA has sought shifting of PSPCL offices to different locations of the city so that the former could develop the area by building malls and shopping complexes. The meeting found that relocating offices would entail inconvenience to consumers as well.

Ludhiana, August 8
Chaos prevailed as physically challenged persons blocked the traffic on the Gill Road here for more than an hour today.

They were protesting against the alleged lack of facilities and mismanagement at the job fair organised by Vocational Rehabilitation Centre for Handicapped (VRC), Ludhiana, and Sarthak Education Trust at the VRC-ATI campus on the Gill Road.

More than 700 persons from the state descended on the city to participate in the job fair. However, they were miffed at the lack of arrangements and inadequate number of private companies offering jobs. They raised slogans against the organisers for allegedly misleading them.

Satwinder Singh, who came from Raikot, said the fair was organised far inside the campus causing difficulties to job aspirants in reaching the venue. Further, there were no facilities. Even drinking water was not available.

“They called us to make fun of us,” said another job aspirant, adding that the advertisements given by the organisers mentioned that companies of national and international repute would be hiring people. However, only a few persons were present at the fair, he said.

The job fair was reportedly for physically challenged youths, between 18 and 30 years of age, from Punjab and Chandigarh. The minimum eligibility was matric.

Harpal Singh, another job aspirant, alleged that after they reached the venue, officials there started making excuses that they had called people from Ludhiana only.

SDM (West) KPS Mahi said, “I had sent the tehsildar to pacify the protesters. It was said that the organisers had made a mistake in issuing the advertisement about the eligibility of the candidates. They were expecting a much lesser number of candidates.”

Mandi Ahmedgarh, August 8
The state government’s movement to create another technical university on the campus of Giani Zail Singh College of Engineering in Bathinda has not gone down well with residents, including academicians and parents of students of the region.

While students completing various levels of study in humanities and science streams from different universities are already disappointed due to administrative problems, students of technical studies apprehend similar impediments if the state technical university is also bifurcated. Declaration of results, frequent migration during perusal of studies and official recognition of their degrees were identified as future problems.

Situation is grimmer for aspirants from localities of this region due to geographical location on intersection of three districts.

Karnail Singh of Lohatbaddi village said he had to toil a lot to get results of various degree classes of his daughters declared from administrative office of a university of the state due to objections about jurisdiction.

“As there was no degree college at the local town or surrounding localities my daughters joined a local academy being run by an educational committee. As our village was included in Ludhiana district following reorganisation we had to face problems every time when the roll numbers for annual exams were issued and result of my daughters was declared,” Singh said.

Pardeep Kumar, an educationist from Khanpur village in Sangrur district, regretted that he had to shuttle between headquarters of three universities of the state for getting testimonials and documents of his studies approved for administrative purposes as he had done four degrees from different universities.

Apprehending similar problems for his wards Kumar said shifting of jurisdiction from Jalandhar to Bathinda would complicate the matter for all students from this area who had completed graduation in engineering under present set up and would be pursuing post-graduation from proposed universities in Bathinda.

Former councillor Dilshad and manager of the Ahmedgarh Vidya Parcharak Sabha Kedar Kapila said efforts should be made to improve the quality of education instead of opening new universities in any stream.

Colleges and institutes situated in Sangrur, Bathinda, Barnala, Faridkot, Fatehgarh Sahib, Fazilka, Ferozepur, Mansa, Muktsar and Patiala districts would be controlled by the new university. 

Ludhiana, August 8
Various aspects of agriculture were highlighted during the monthly training camp of the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) Kisan Club which concluded here today.

About 150 members of the club participated in the month-long agricultural camp.

Besides, monthly training a camp for the women’s wing of the club was also organised at Chakkar village near Ludhiana wherein farm women participated in large numbers.

Dr TS Riar, coordinator, PAU Kisan Club, said the experts laid thrust on the minimum support price (MSP) of different commodities, effects of climate change on agriculture and production of medicinal mushroom.

In addition, the participants were apprised of curative measures to prevent joint pains, Riar added. For agri-marketing at village level, Dr Riar divided the farmers into small groups.

Dr Rupinder Kaur, coordinator, Women’s Wing of the club, shed light on the role of the Kisan Club of Punjab Agricultural University in women empowerment.

Dr Rupinder further informed that the home scientists delivered lectures and gave demonstration on the preparation of snacks and drinks from seasonal fruits and vegetables. Besides this, the progressive farm women shared their experiences on the occasion.

A competition of folk songs and boliyan was also organised.

Ludhiana, August 8
Aam Aadmi Party volunteers today cleaned a slum area on the Pakhowal Road to make Ludhiana “clean, green and healthy”.

The volunteers cleaned the slum in Jamna Nagar, also known as Ambedkar Colony, along the canal on the Pakhowal Road. Unhygienic conditions prevailing at the slum are a health hazard.

The Municipal Corporation supported the AAP endeavour and provided sweepers, who, along with party volunteers, gathered all the waste and garbage in the colony.

With the assistance of the employees of A2Z Group, a garbage disposal company, heaps of garbage dumps were removed from the entire colony.

Further, the AAP volunteers planted trees and earmarked a part of the slum, which they will be using for providing education to slum children.

The “Each One-Teach One” project of the AAP’s youth team, which started two months ago, has already seen a good response with slum children competing with each other to reach the informal “school” run every evening in the slum areas. A small song and dance performance by these “school students” was appreciated by their parents and other residents of the colony.

Ludhiana, August 8
A eunuch was injured in a clash between two groups at Salem Tabri here today. The injured has been identified as Manisha. The clash took place at Dera of Pali Mahant in Salem Tabri.

Sapana Mahant from Dera of Pali Mahant said a group of ‘fake’ eunuchs from Dhandari attacked their Dera. A Dhandari-based group of eunuchs reportedly wanted that Manisha should join their group.

Sapana alleged, “Five eunuchs came to their Dera and asked Manisha to go along with them. However, Manisha refused, following which they attacked Manisha with a sharp-edged weapon and cut the hair of Raveena, another eunuch.

Manisha was rushed to the Civil Hospital and her condition is stated to be stable. Sapana filed a complaint against the eunuchs at the Salem Tabri police station.

Khanna, August 8
The Khanna Police have registered a case against unidentified persons for forcibly seizing a car last night.

According to the police sources, Sandeep Kumar, a resident of Delhi, was going towards Ludhiana along with his brother Lokesh to visit their sister for Raksha Bandhan. They stopped at a dhaba near Libra village and had dinner, following which they decided to take a nap in the car. At 1 am, an auto bumped into the car. On confrontation, the persons thrashed Sandeep and fled with the car. His brother Lokesh was seated inside the car.

Sandeep ran behind the car but in vain. He then reported the matter to the police.

The SHO, Sadar, Jagdev Singh, reached the spot. They spotted Lokesh, near Biza. The Khanna Police have registered a case against unidentified persons in this regard.

SHO Jagdev Singh said they have registered a case under Sections 394, 365 of the IPC and 25-54-59 of the Arms Act.

The police are conducting raids at various suspicious places to nab the accused.

Ludhiana, August 8
Officials of Tehbazari wing of the Municipal Corporation were allegedly thrashed as they visited the Daresi Road today to remove an encroachment outside a shop.

During a sangat darshan by MC Commissioner, a shopkeeper complained that Anil Kumar, the owner of a garment shop, has encroached upon the road outside his shop. On the directions of the Commissioner, the Tehbazari officials visited the shop to remove the encroachment. However, the shop owner, along with his brother Harish Kumar, resisted the move. Heated arguments ensued.

In his complaint, Tehbazari inspector Gurmeet Mall stated that Anil Kumar Malhotra, Harish Kumar Malhotra and his accomplice attacked him.

A case has been registered against Anil Malhotra and Harish Malhotra at the Daresi police station.

Ludhiana, August 8
A hat-trick by Vikas Prashar helped Kundan Vidya Mandir (KVM), Civil Lines, record second consecutive victory in the Ludhiana Schools Cricket Zonal Tournament (U-17) being organised by the Punjab Education Department on the SDP College grounds here today.

The KVM team thrashed SDP Senior Secondary School, Hazuri Road branch, by 33 runs. Yesterday, KVM had defeated Government Model Senior Secondary School, PAU, by 55 runs.

Winning the toss, the KVM team decided to bat first and scored 70 runs in the allotted 10 overs while losing five wickets. Bhuvnesh Rai and Shubham Dyal contributed 18 runs each while Deepin Chitkara made 14 runs. For SDP school, Chetan and Vivek grabbed three and two wickets after conceding 25 and 20 runs, respectively.

In reply, SDP school were bundled out for a paltry score of 37 runs in nine overs. Lakwinder Singh put up some semblance of resistance by chipping in with 12 runs.

For the winners, Vikas Prashar claimed four wickets, including a hat-trick, in his one over and conceded only two runs. Keshav Sharma secured one wicket for two runs in his quota of two overs. Yuvraj Puri accounted for one wicket for five runs while Sehaj grabbed one wicket for 10 runs.