SPECIAL COVERAGE
CHANDIGARH

LUDHIANA

DELHI


THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS
50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

Diarrhoea cases: 1 dead, 10 hospitalised
Jalandhar, August 18
Resham, an eight-year-old girl, died due to diarrhoea here yesterday, while her elder sister Seema was admitted to the Civil Hospital here today. Meanwhile, more cases of diarrhoea have been reported in the city from the New Sant Nagar area.

meeting august 31 deadline
Fee counters for HSRPs to remain open for 15 hrs from today
Jalandhar, August 18
Owing to the heavy rush for the installation of High Security Registration Plates in view of the August 31 deadline, the District Transport Office has decided keep the counters for the levy of fee open for as long as 15 hours a day from tomorrow.

At 17,000 feet, city photographer gives lessons to international group
Jalandhar, August 18
Jitendra Sharma, a professor of photography and animation here, was part of an international landscape photography workshop at 17,000 feet in the Himalayas. The workshop was attended by 26 group members from various countries who trekked to the Roopkund glacier and worked in extremely difficult conditions at sub-zero temperatures.


EARLIER STORIES





Sea of humanity: A large number of devotees participate in Janmashtami celebrations at Devi Talab Mandir in Jalandhar on Monday night. Photo: Sarabjit Singh

Rural police ‘Help Desk’ helping public
Jalandhar, August 18
The initiative of the Punjab Police to form “Help Desks” at the Jalandhar rural police stations is helping people, as their complaints are being redressed in a short period of time. Notably, the Jalandhar rural police is the only police district in Punjab which initiated the service of “Help Desks” at police-station level with the motive to prevent the public from knocking the door of senior police officials.

Safai karamcharis call off their strike after assurances
Jalandhar, August 18
A call for indefinite strike by the safai karamcharis of the Municipal Corporation from today in protest against the Solid Waste Management Project was put off after the MC Commissioner and other top officials managed to convince the union leaders against the decision.

Now, biometric attendance system at ADC (D) office
Jalandhar, August 18
Ensuring that the staff maintained punctuality in attending the office daily, the District Administration has installed a biometric machine in the office of the ADC (D). The machine was inaugurated by Deputy Commissioner Kamal Kishor Yadav.


Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav marks his attendance using the biometric attendance machine in the office in Jalandhar. A Tribune Photograph

Police register murder case after woman’s kin protest
Jalandhar, August 18
Following the death of a woman under mysterious circumstances at the Gurunanak Pura East locality, five persons, including the woman's husband, were booked by the police.

Better jalandhar: faulty planning-iI
‘Informed opinion needed for sustained development’
The Jalandhar Tribune while highlighting the flawed planning of the city infrastructure yesterday has raised various concerns pertaining to the safety and convenience of the residents.


A view of the abandoned Domoria Flyover; (and right) an encroached service lane near the Hansraj Stadium. Photos: Sarabjit Singh

From schools, colleges
Van Mahotsav: Students of Mehr Chand Polytechnic College celebrated van mahotsav by planting saplings on the college premises. Principal S Jagroop Singh appreciated the efforts made by the ECE department.
Poetry recitation competition: Cambridge International School, Chotti Baradari, organised a poetry recitation competition for the students of Class III. The theme of the competition was childhood and nature. The winners for the competition were Sehaj Soni, Rachit Jain, Mehma, Prabhnoor Singh and Aadi Sood. Chairman Ajay Bhatia, deputy chairman Deepak Bhatia, directors, learning wing, Dr Brijesh and Nitin Kohli, director CIS J K Kohli, academic director Deepa Dogra and headmistress Kiranjoth Dhillon also appreciated the winners. — TNS

Law makers or law breakers
Jalandhar, August 18
Even as there are directions against defacement of pillars of BMC Chowk flyover by pasting posters there, the state government itself has indulged in violation by putting up congratulatory posters on Independence Day. The posters with the picture of CM Parkash Singh Badal and the Tricolour on it have come up just along the warning of the MC Commissioner put up on the pillar. The poster even carries a message by the CM to the citizens on the occasion of the national festival. The MC has even lodged FIRs against the violators in the recent past. But no action is being planned in this case. MC Commissioner Manpreet Singh Chattwal said he would look into the matter and get the posters removed. TNS

Posters of Independence Day wishes with Chief Minister Parkash SIngh Badal’s message in Jalandhar. Photo: Sarabjit SIngh

Cop honoured
Jalandhar, August 18
Inspector Paramveer Singh, in-charge of the Community Policing Service Centre at Jalandhar Cantonment, has become the recipient of Community Policing Sewa Medal. He is the only police inspector from across the state to have received the medal, citation and a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh from among the staff of the Sanjh Kendras. The medal was given to him during the state-level Independence Day function by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal at Patiala. — TNS

 





Top




 

 

 

 

 

 

Diarrhoea cases: 1 dead, 10 hospitalised
Rachna Khaira
Tribune News Service


A doctor examines a diarrhoea patient at Civil Hospital in Jalandhar on Monday. A Tribune photograph

Jalandhar, August 18
Resham, an eight-year-old girl, died due to diarrhoea here yesterday, while her elder sister Seema was admitted to the Civil Hospital here today. Meanwhile, more cases of diarrhoea have been reported in the city from the New Sant Nagar area. Around 10 more cases of diarrhoea were reported from a single building itself from the same area. The Municipal Corporation (MC), till the filing of this report, was unable to confirm the exact location of the possible contamination of the potable water from the sewerage line running parallel to it.

According to Paragi Lal, father of Resham, she was fine till she had her dinner at around 10 pm. Later, her condition started deteriorating with repeated vomiting and loose motions the whole night. She died early morning before we could even take her to the hospital, said Paragi Lal. He also said that his other daughter Seema’s condition also worsened after dinner and was taken to the Civil Hospital, where her condition was said to be stable now.

Paragi Lal has been working in the city for the past few years and it was just 15 days ago that he had brought his family from the village.

Giving details about the new diarrhoea cases reported from a single building itself, Dr Satish Sood, district epidemiologist, Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSA), said all patients are migrant workers living in a two-storeyed building. “While the ground floor people were drinking water from the fresh water supply and were fine, the top floor people were found to be drinking water from the overhead tank. It is these people only who caught diarrhoea and have been admitted to the hospital,” said Dr Sood. He also said that the top floor occupants were forced to drink water from the overhead tank, as there was no separate water inlet for the potable water on the top floor.

Confirming this, Bharti a patient informed that despite repeated request to the owner of the building, he failed to provide a separate drinking water connection to around 8 families living on the top floor. “While the people living on the ground floor are drinking water from the fresh water supply, we are forced to drink water from the overhead tank that is also been used by all the 45 families in the building for sanitary purposes as well,” said Bharti.

The health department had sent its teams to the affected areas and had also distributed chlorine tablets there.

Top

 

meeting august 31 deadline
Fee counters for HSRPs to remain open for 15 hrs from today
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, August 18
Owing to the heavy rush for the installation of High Security Registration Plates (HSRPs) in view of the August 31 deadline, the District Transport Office has decided keep the counters for the levy of fee open for as long as 15 hours a day from tomorrow.

District Transport Officer (DTO) RP Singh said the applicants could visit the three counters anytime from 6 am to 9 pm from tomorrow. He said the photocopy of the registration certificate (RC) would have to be attached along with the form. He said for new vehicles, a copy of the online receipt would have to be attached with the application.

Secretary (Transport) Punjab Anurag Agarwal, during his visit to the city on Thursday last, had said that the August 31 deadline of installing the HSRPs on vehicles was unlikely to be extended as there were Supreme Court orders on the matter. The Secretary had said that he had asked the vendor to double the capacity of generating plates by installing more machines across the state in 10 days.

The officer had also announced that the department was set to do away with the practice of issuing temporary registration numbers of vehicles from September 15. Instead, the automobile buyer would get the HSRP, bearing the permanent number, through the authorised vendor on the day the vehicle moves out of the showroom. The Secretary had said that with the implementation of the new provision, the buyer was set to get free from a number of hassles, including paying for the temporary registration plate, filling forms, standing in long queues to pay the requisite fee and then waiting at the workshop for one’s turn to get the plate installed by mechanic.

Agarwal added that the buyer would also get provisional RC from the office and could get a regular RC later from the dealer during his subsequent visit, for which again there would be no hassles. “The customer would keep getting the updated status of his RC till the final stage of its delivery with the dealer concerned,” he said.

Agarwal added that Jalandhar and Fatehgarh Sahib would be among the first four districts in the state to empower the applicants to send their entire scanned data via web-based Sarthi application for availing a driving licence. “The applicant would even be able to select his best picture for the purpose from home or do a selfie. He, however, would have to personally show up twice for a written test and a driving test. The department is taking 3-acre land outside the city limits in each district for taking driving test and for vehicle fitness,” he elaborated.

He concluded that the whole idea was to reduce the number of visits of the applicants to the offices, empower the common man and make the staff more accountable in ensuring timely delivery of documents.

Top

 

At 17,000 feet, city photographer gives lessons to international group
Aparna Banerji
Tribune News Service


The group of photographers whom Jitendra Sharma trained during the trek in Uttarakhand.

Jalandhar, August 18
Jitendra Sharma, a professor of photography and animation here, was part of an international landscape photography workshop at 17,000 feet in the Himalayas. The workshop was attended by 26 group members from various countries who trekked to the Roopkund glacier and worked in extremely difficult conditions at sub-zero temperatures.

A teacher of photography, Jeetendra’s magical landscapes and views of the stars captured during the trip transforms ones to another world.

While it all basically happened under the umbrella of adventure tourism, the mission handed over to Jeetendra during the trek was to train a group of 25 people coming from various countries to photograph landscapes at high altitude.

Talking to The Tribune, Jeetendra of the LPU, said, “The company India Hike saw my works and offered me the opportunity to train various people during this trek to Roopkund – during which we trekked to the Trishul peak. Since it requires a lot of physical fitness as well as depth in photography, I trained the entire group for about a month. Keeping in mind the photographic challenges the place would offer - like lighting conditions of Himalayan landscapes. Along with that, I also worked on my own landscape photography project,” he said.

“While web tutorials were held for the group first – I kept giving e-mail photography tutorials to the group. Then some training was also held at the base camp, after which we set out for the trek. It was a very professional workshop in which all amenities were provided to us to ensure our well being,” he added.

The group of 25 included trekkers from the USA, Norway, Sweden as well as India.

Four doctors, three guides from the National Institute of Mountaineering, two Sherpas, accompanied the group. Sharma was also accompanied by other photographers from India, but he was the key trainer for the workshop.

Roopkund (locally known as Mystery Lake) is a high-altitude glacial lake in Uttarakhand. It lies in the lap of mount Trishul and is famous due to hundreds of human skeletons found at the edge of the lake. The lake is surrounded by rock-strewn glaciers and snow-clad mountains, making it a great trekking destination a perfect visual pleasure for nature lovers.

He said during the Roopkund trek, he experienced the majestic beauty of meadows Ali Bugyal and Bedini Bugyal, which are the largest meadows of Asia. “As you climb to higher altitude, you will experience scarcity of oxygen and other altitude-related problems like AMS - acute mountain sickness. Physical fitness is required to be able to trek at this high altitude,” he added.

His exercise to train for the said trek came in handy.

According to him, the most rewarding moment was when the group shot photographs of the Milky Way, sky filled with shooting stars, views of satellites, which are clearly visible as this place is far away from any kind of ambience of artificial lights and human habitation.

Sharma shared, “India has its great potential in adventure tourism, where Himalayan treks can be offered to the world as the most amazing experience. But unfortunately, we have not given due attention to the developing market. The Government of India should encourage photographers and trekkers to explore the hidden beauty of Himalayas and present it to the world.”

Top

 

Rural police ‘Help Desk’ helping public
Nikhil Bhardwaj
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, August 18
The initiative of the Punjab Police to form “Help Desks” at the Jalandhar rural police stations is helping people, as their complaints are being redressed in a short period of time. Notably, the Jalandhar rural police is the only police district in Punjab which initiated the service of “Help Desks” at police-station level with the motive to prevent the public from knocking the door of senior police officials.

The IG, SSP and SP-rank officials have a direct online access to the help desk and everyday, the SHO and DSP of the police station concerned have to give an update of daily complaints to the SSP. A staff of 66 police personnel has been attached with the help desks at all 15 rural police stations.

Since the initiation of the service at 15 police stations in Jalandhar rural district on June 30, 2014, Help Desks had disposed of around 97 per cent complaints till date.

“Our Help Desks have received 1,373 complaints at 15 police stations in a span of one and a half months, of which these have disposed of 1,333 complaints, meaning over 97 per cent complaints have been solved. Now only 40 complaints are pending and the investigation to clear the backlog is going on at a good pace,” said SSP Narinder Bhargav.

Only one and two each complaints were pending at Lambra, Sadar Nakodar, Lohian Khas police stations and Kartarpur, Maqsudan, Bhogpur, Patara, Phillaur, Goraya, City Nakodar and Nurmahal, respectively.

In the above said period, the Kartarpur police station had received maximum 163 complaints, followed by 143 complaints at Shahkot, 138 Mahatpur police stations, 117 at Phillaur police station, 107 at Lohian Khas, 104 at Adampur police station, 89 at Lambra police station etc. Out of these received complaints, 161, 133, 133, 115, 106, 101, 88 were redressed and justice was done to the complainants.

Now complaints are being redressed at the police station-level, people hardly knock my door for justice. I have strictly told Help Desk people and SHOs of all police stations to redress complaint in the minimum possible time, Bhargav said, adding that under this system, whenever a complainant visits any of the police station, he was welcomed by the Help Desk people.

Hope for justice

“When complaints are not redressed at the police station-level effectively, complainants rush to my office for justice. Now with this system, public will be heard by help desk officials under the supervision of the SHO and DSP with the assurance that justice will be delivered to them. If still the complainant gets no satisfaction, then he/she is welcome to knock my door,” Bhargav said.

98 pc complaints received at ‘100’ disposed of

The police official claimed that apart from Help Desks, direct complaints at the police control room ‘100’ were also being redressed speedily. “Our 15 police stations had received 794 complaints in a span of over one month, of which 778 had been redressed.”

Faith in police

People, who otherwise fear visiting police stations, now enter these confidently. Now, people visiting any of the police stations of the Jalandhar rural police are first being received by the Help Desk staff. A cop is specially deployed at every police station who has to take the complainant to Help Desk for registering the complaint. It not only comforts the visitor but also increases faith in police, the police claimed.

Top

 

Safai karamcharis call off their strike after assurances

Jalandhar, August 18
A call for indefinite strike by the safai karamcharis of the Municipal Corporation from today in protest against the Solid Waste Management Project was put off after the MC Commissioner and other top officials managed to convince the union leaders against the decision.

The karamcharis had announced that there would be no garbage lifting from today. But MC Commissioner Manpreet Singh Chhatwal managed to convince them against the decision. The employees were made to talk to Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal, who reportedly told them that he would give them a suitable time for discussing the issue in a week or 10 days. The employees have been demanding that the services of the existing staff be taken for door-to-door garbage collection. The JITF Infrastructure Limited is scheduled to start garbage lifting in 27 committees in Jalandhar cluster (not MC Jalandhar) from September. The employees are also protesting against the decision of the government regarding the new policy of transfer of class III employees. As per the policy, the clerical staff could be transferred from any municipal council & committee. — TNS

Top

 

Now, biometric attendance system at ADC (D) office
Deepkamal Kaur
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, August 18
Ensuring that the staff maintained punctuality in attending the office daily, the District Administration has installed a biometric machine in the office of the ADC (D). The machine was inaugurated by Deputy Commissioner Kamal Kishor Yadav.

He said there were directions from the state government regarding maintaining of punctuality in offices which could be crosschecked daily with the machines.

He said that all those coming habitually late would be made accountable with the aid of the machine. He said that as of now, only the staff of the ADC (D) would press their fingers in the machine but more machines would be installed in the rest of the complex for other staff to mark their attendance the same way.

ADC (D) Kumar Amit said that the attendance generated by the machine would come as a mail to him.

He said that he would be able to monitor the presence of his staff even while on tour, leave or off.

The ADC (D) said there were six CCTV cameras installed in his office and he could monitor their working on the computer screen of his office. "Since the cameras are also linked to my phone, I can keep a watch on the staff all through the day," he said.

Top

 

Police register murder case after woman’s kin protest
Tribune News Service


The kin of a deceased woman, who died under mysterious circumstances, hold protest at the Nakodar chowk in Jalandhar on Monday. Photo: Sarabjit SIngh

Jalandhar, August 18
Following the death of a woman under mysterious circumstances at the Gurunanak Pura East locality, five persons, including the woman's husband, were booked by the police.

The police registered a case after the deceased's kin held a protest by keeping the body on the road at the Nakodar chowk. Traffic remained disturbed for over an hour. It was only after the police registered a murder case that the protestors put off the agitation. Sources said Bakhshinder Kaur, wife of Amarjit, whose health deteriorated yesterday, died at the Civil Hospital today in the wee hours.

Following the death, the deceased's kin lodged their resentment before the police for initiating the inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPc. The deceased's kin were alleging that her in-laws had poisoned her to death.

A case under section 302 of the IPC was registered against the deceased's husband Amarjit, mother-in-law Resham Kaur, sister-in-law Dalbir and brother-in-law Sukhwinder at the Rama Mandi police station.

Top

 

Better jalandhar: faulty planning-iI
‘Informed opinion needed for sustained development’
Rachna Khaira
Tribune News Service

The Jalandhar Tribune while highlighting the flawed planning of the city infrastructure yesterday has raised various concerns pertaining to the safety and convenience of the residents. Today, in the second part of the campaign, we invited suggestions from the general public to overcome these flaws and also ways to develop a flawless city planned for the future generations. Most residents feel that the development agencies should first invite public opinion before planning any infrastructure for the city. Also, they feel that the law enforcement agencies should take stern action against the defaulters.

"The MC should conduct a survey and identify the size of each ramp and that of the flower beds maintained illegally by the people outside their house and charge rental from them from the date of construction of such structures. They should also impose heavy penalty and initiate criminal proceedings against such defaulters if the encroachers fail to demolish the structure in a stipulated time. The time has come when city residents should be made more responsible and responsive to the rule of law. Breaching any guidelines affecting public safety and their rights must be responded by taking stringent legal action against the defaulters," said Wing Commander (retd) Alfred Chauhan, Adarsh Nagar.

"The district administration should take measures to improve the civic sense of the city residents. Instead of sending their children to a nearby park, they allow them to play on the roads and construct speed-breakers in front of their houses to make their kids safe from the fast moving traffic. Till date, the MC has failed to confirm whether the speed- breaker on the Patel chowk where Aarush fell after his school bus crossed over it was made by the Corporation or was constructed illegally by someone. The administration has to clear all the city roads of any unauthorized constructions," said Chandan Arora of Shivalik Enclave.

"The biggest flaw in the city's engineering aspect is that it does not have any facility for the pedestrians. Although some places have side-lanes, all of them have been encroached for the last few years, openly daring the district administration on its helplessness. Also, the city does not have any under-bridge or over bridge constructed over the major intersections for the pedestrians to cross the road safely. If you visit any of the intersection like the BMC Chowk, Guru Nanak Mission Chowk or the Company Bagh Chowk, you will find people dangerously moving in the fast moving traffic to cross the roads. This is quite dreadful a sight to watch every day. There should be underpasses or over-bridges on all the major road intersections in the city," said Amarjit Singh Anand, a social activist.

"Due to the short-term planning by the infrastructure development agencies like the MC, JDA and JIT, the city infrastructure is now nearing its collapse. Most of the projects like the Domoria flyover, BMC Chowk and the Nehru Garden parking failed due to the erroneous planning by these cash crunched agencies. The government should provide adequate funds to them for the city's development so that instead of making a 'temporary' arrangement, they can plan and develop a facility at least for the next 100 years," said Sukhwinder Singh, an architect.

"The city is suffering largely due to a bundle of half-baked ideas incorporated into the proposed land use plan by a few officials. This is high time that the city should be developed vertically and not horizontally. Twenty houses constructed vertically will require less space and resources like street lights, roads etc than 20 houses built horizontally. Why is the MC building a massive 3D Fish Aquarium on an acre of land when it is struggling hard to find a place for developing parking areas in the city," said Mohan Lal Sood, Superintending Engineer (retd), PWD.

OFFICIAL SPEAK: There are indeed certain flaws in the initial planning and designing of the city but then it needs to be verified as to why these flaws are there and what needs to be done to remove them at the earliest. As far as the JIT is concerned, we are ready to assist the MC in any of the repair or development work they feel needs to be done for the convenience of the city residents. There is a dire need that all the development and planning agencies should sit together and find ways to develop the city in a flawless way

— Vinay Bublani, Chairman, Jalandhar Improvement Trust

We design and plan the city on the basis of feedback we receive from various departments like the traffic police, district administration and our own officials. Nevertheless, the public should also come forward to suggest ways to improve and develop the city according to their own vision. But unfortunately, the feedback we receive from them and even from the government departments is almost negligible.

— Sunil Jyoti, Mayor, Jalandhar

Top

 





HOME PAGE | Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Opinions |
| Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi |
| Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail |