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November 14, 2001, Chandigarh, India
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Alert gateman
averts tragedy at crossing Ludhiana, November 13 The incident occurred at 1307 hours when the Ludhiana-Ferozepore train was to cross from the spot. The gateman Sukhdev Singh dropped the barricade in routine. As he dropped the barricade on one side, the car driver, who was identified as Devinder Singh, while seeing the barricade took a wrong turn. By that time, the gateman had dropped the barricade on that side also. Sukhdev Singh said as he saw a car with some people inside it trapped between the barricades, he signalled the train to stop. It was his resourcefulness and presence of mind that prevented a major tragedy from happening. “I was surprised to see the car coming from the wrong side getting holed up in the barricade. So I decided in the first instance to stop the train, otherwise it would have rammed into the trapped car”, he explained. Instead of admitting their fault, the driver of the car along with his father and another youth went into the cabin of Sukhdev Singh and started bullying him, asking him to let their car pass. “They started abusing me and threatened me with dire consequences if I did not let their car go”, Sukhdev Singh said. He tried to reason it out with the youth, but they insisted on removing the barricade and even tried to do it themselves. “Had it not been my patience they would have even manhandled me”, a helpless Sukhdev said. As the train was stopped, the gateman refused to allow it to pass or release the car. He informed the authorities who took some time to arrive there. By that time, the passengers were getting restless. So were hundreds of people stranded on both sides of the line. Some people even threatened the gateman, who declined to release the car. He pointed out, “How could I allow the car to go. In case there was any accident, only I would have been blamed”. The railway traffic remained blocked for about one hour. It was only after the railway guard talked to the authorities at the Ludhiana railway station that the car was moved aside and the train was allowed to pass. The passengers were angry as most of them had to take the Malwa Express which was already at the railway station. R.S. Rawat, an army man, missed the train. He was angry, saying the persons responsible for the incident should be severely punished as their carelessness could have cost precious lives besides having caused inconvenience to thousands of people. Meanwhile, a senior railway official told Ludhiana Tribune that the case had been handed over to the police for necessary action. The railway official appreciated the alertness shown by the gateman and said he would be suitably rewarded. At the same time he sought public cooperation in observing the railway rules. |
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10,000 bogus employees in PSEB: CICU Ludhiana, November 13 Mr Inderjit Singh Pardhan, president, CICU, referring to an internal report of the board, said, ‘‘A scandal regarding the marking of bogus attendance by about 10,000 employees of the PSEB has come to the notice of the chamber. As per available figures 92,000 employees are on the payrolls of the PSEB. But 10,000 employees failed to turn up, when the board asked all
the employees to get their identity cards personally signed by the nodal officers of the rank of superintendent engineers.’’ He said this scandal had not been detected for the past many years. It came to the notice of the authorities only when these bogus employees failed to get their identity cards despite repeated reminders. He alleged that most of these employees were getting salary without actually attending the office. Though the union leaders of the PSEB brushed aside the claims of Mr Pardhan, saying that it was not possible to get salary by the so called bogus employees. These employees might have failed to get their identity cards due to some personal reasons. However, Mr Inderjit Singh Pardhan and Mr Avtar Singh, general secretary of the CICU, urged the Punjab Government to order a CBI enquiry to investigate the scandal worth crores of rupees. |
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Second Municipal Lok Adalat on Dec 7 Ludhiana, November 13 According to Mr Ashok Bazaz, legal adviser-cum-Vigilance Officer on the MC here, the Lok Adalat shall conduct hearing in the premises of the court of District and Sessions Judge. All such litigants, desirous of getting their long pending disputes, amicably settled through the Lok Adalat, could submit the details of their respective cases to the office of the MC Law Officer or the Zonal Commissioner of their area by November 25, 2001, so that the court concerned could be requested to transfer the case proceedings to the Lok Adalat. The MC administration has sought cooperation of the MLAs and councillors to make the Lok Adalat a success because the time and energy of the civic body thus saved, could be utilised for providing better civic amenities. The city councillors, added Mr Bazaz, could take it upon themselves to educate the residents of their respective wards, with pending civil cases concerning Municipal Corporation, to come forward voluntarily for settlement in the Lok Adalat. The members of the local Bar Council could also contribute by persuading their clients to seek the help of the Lok Adalat for speedy settlement of pending cases. Mr Bazaz further informed the public and the litigants concerned that no legal fee was payable for reference of the pending dispute to the Lok Adalat. The contesting party could even present their cases personally. The award of the Lok Adalat was passed on the terms of compromise arrived at between the contesting parties, therefore, such award was final and could not be challenged in any higher court or other forum. The MC here had achieved a distinction of being the first Municipal Corporation in the country to organise Lok Adalat for exclusively settling the municipal disputes on November 6 last year. In the then Lok Adalat, 54 different civil suits and appeals were decided. |
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No first-aid on train Ludhiana, November 13 On Sunday, a passenger, Deepak Kumar, had a harrowing experience because he could not find any first-aid on board the train. He was standing in the door of the Amritsar-Delhi Express when something hit his head and he began bleeding profusely. His teenaged sister, who was travelling with him, tried desperately to find a first-aid kit, on the train, but there was none. While her brother bled, she tried to contact all TTEs and the guard who told her that there was no first-aid available on the train. Her co-passengers also did not come to her help. Deepak said the object had hit him when the train had just left Panipat. “I was desperate, as Deepak was bleeding profusely from the wound,” said his sister. She and another girl who was travelling in the same coach tried to stop the bleeding by placing their handkerchiefs on the wound. They managed to stop the bleeding, but did not have any painkiller for Deepak. At one time, they decided to get down at Ambala. “However, we thought it would be better if we reached Ludhiana as we did not know anyone at Ambala,” Deepak said. They were received here by their parents, who had been informed by a passenger who had got down at Ambala. Railway officials said they did not know anything about the incident and the Railways made sure that there was first-aid facility on every train. One of them said the injured passenger might not have contacted any of the railway officials on duty, who could have provided them with medical aid. However, Deepak and his sister said they had contacted the guard, who had expressed his helplessness. |
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PAU to have working men’s hostel Ludhiana, November 13 The hostel number 9 of the PAU, which is a postgraduate hostel, would be converted into the working men’s hostel. Sources said that the hostel was being converted into the working men’s
hostel as there were not many residents there and they could be easily shifted to the other hostels as many rooms were lying vacant there. The working men’s hostel was a long pending demand with the authorities as the employees of the university were saying that if there was a hostel for the working women on campus there should be a hostel for men also. The authorities had found that the Hostel Number 9 was under-utilised as there were only 20 residents there. Moreover many hostels, including the PG hostels, had vacant rooms which could easily accommodate these students. Sources said that the university was trying to utilise its space and generate funds as the it was facing a serious financial crunch. There were more such moves by the university to get some more hostels vacated from the students as a hostel requited extra staff and hence extra financial burden for the university. Sources said that the occupancy rate in many hostel was 50 per cent the capacity. For instance in the veterinary college hostel the room occupancy was around 50 per cent. Sources said that the university was mooting certain proposals to utilise the space properly. The authorities were of the view that two more hostels, out of the rest eight, could be easily vacated and extra expenditure saved. It is learnt that the new Director Students Welfare had even started a move to vacate the hostel number 9 as there were only 20 residents. He had even issued notices to the residents to vacate the hostels with in a short period of time. But due to the protest by the residents the university had to postpone the move. The students had met the Vice-Chancellor after getting the notices who had allowed the students to stay there till the end of the semester.
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Husband gets RI for dowry death Ludhiana, November 13 Manjit Kaur, wife of accused Sajjan Singh, had died just after two years of marriage under suspicious circumstances. She had been cremated without informing her parents. Mother-in-law Amarjit Kaur (55) and a brother-in-law (22), have also been sentenced to three years’ imprisonment each under Section 201 of IPC. However, the court acquitted Balbir Kaur, another co-accused, for want of evidence. ‘‘The menace of dowry death is on the increase and a number of innocent girls are being done to death for the lust of dowry. It has become necessary to curb this evil with an iron hand so that the deterioration in the Indian values be removed, which has noosedived from the era when womanhood was placed on a pedestal and was worship to an era of butchering them on their inability to provide an item or two of luxury to the ever greedy in-laws’’, observed Mr Mehta, while pronouncing the judgement. Accused persons were booked at police station Machhiwara, on the statement of Mr Karnail Singh, father of deceased, on June 21, 1997. The court took a serious note of the fact that accused did not wait for few hours after the death of Manjit Kaur to ensure that her father and other relatives could come for funeral. |
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Two accused of forging deed Ahmedgarh, November 13 According to the FIR, Hafij Bashir used to run a shop from a rented premises that belonged to the Municipal Council. In 1997, he suffered financial losses and went to Uttar Pradesh to manage funds. On returning, he found that the accused had got the tenancy rights transferred in their names through a forged deed. However, the accused said they had paid a ‘pagri’ to the physical possessor of the shop years ago. The MC had asked them to pay a huge sum because the shops had been sublet. According to them, Balram had paid the MC Rs 57,720 in 1995 and Avtar Singh had paid the MC Rs 14,520 in 1997 to become legal tenants. Mr Kishori Lal Bandhan, President of the MC, denied any foul play by the council authorities in this case and said the shops had been rented out according to rules. |
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‘Admn letting illegal cracker trade thrive’ Ludhiana, November 13 Mr Parminder Mehta, President of the DYC, in a statement issued here today, said the incident had revealed a huge stock of crackers in the congested Field Ganj area of the old city, but the dealer had been let off under pressure from a senior functionary of the ruling coalition. He said this proved that the district administration was following the directions of its political bosses at the cost of innocent lives. He urged the Punjab Government to grant a compensation of at least Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the victims. He also called for a high-level inquiry to the illegal storage and sale of crackers in city. In a separate statement issued here today, Mr Pawan Diwan, Chairman of the Urban Development Cell of the Indian Youth Congress, said blatant violation of directions of the apex court on storage and sale of crackers in congested residential areas was a matter of concern. He said the restrictions were being flouted openly, while the administration was being a mute spectator to it. He said the MC had failed to learn from past tragedies. |
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Boy killed in accident Ludhiana, November 13 |
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Poppy husk seized Jagraon, November 13 However, Balkar Singh of the same village, other co-accused, with Santokh Singh, escaped. The police has taken into possession the scooter and registered case under Sections 15,61,85 of the NDPS Act.
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LUDHIANA CALLING
In wake of massive air pollution caused during the festival of Divali, there are very few individuals and institutions who make some attempts to stem the rot and undo the immense damage to environment. Even though several NGOs and other voluntary bodies have been pleading for a ban on crackers but there are hardly any takers and in particular, the Ludhianvis, as is their wont, tend to be extravagant at the time of festivities. However, some people have starting showing concern for conservation of environment and doing something different. Unlike other Divali gifts like dry fruit, sweets or confectionary, distributed by the corporate houses, atleast one company, The Trident Group has gone in for distributing a sapling, all ready for plantation, which is packed in a beautiful box, with a message on plantation of trees for a greener environment on it. Well done Trident. Keep it up.
Sparks of creativity The festival of lights seems to have sparked the creativity among people. A number of potters have come up with unique and delicate designs of Lord Ganesh and Goddess Lakshmi. Divali has different significance for different people. While the commonly held belief is that the festival is celebrated to mark the return of Lord Rama to Ayodhaya after spending 14 years in exile, some people, particularly the businessmen celebrate it in honour of Goddess Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth. Given the quantum of business in Ludhiana and the number of businessmen here, special prayers are held for Goddess Lakshmi and special idols are made. And the idol makers display their best ingenuity at this time. (see picture)
No subsistence wages In the era of labour retrenchment and recession, some of the journalists are also forced to work under severe working conditions. Recently, a function was organised by a multinational company here to launch its products in the region. The chief guest of the company was, as usual, quite late, but the journalists had reached on time. They were forced to stand outside the company showroom for a long time. One of the journalists was heard saying,‘‘ We are not waiting for the presentation of the chief guest, but the lunch and the subsequent gift.’’ The other fellow said innocently,‘‘ Oh yes, what could you do, except to look for lunch and gifts, in these hard times, when your management does not bother to pay even the minimum wages ensured under the Labour Act. Further these payments are not made on time.’’
Disturbing elements A group of students visited a police station. These students had come there to know about the working of police station and to clear their doubts about the police. Because of some confusion about time, journalists from all news papers reached the police station before the students . They scribes had known about the whole project earlier as they had been briefed by the SP traffic and waiting for the students for half an hour. So when the students came to the police station the journalists were curious to ask bundle of questions. The hectic activity of the media in the police station made the students conscious. And interestingly a few journalists were asking the children’s experience even before they had actually experienced anything. In the whole process the photographers and the journalists were behaving like disturbing elements as reporters were looking for any interesting information or any interesting quote from any of the students and the photographers were looking for a nice picture, much to the chagrin of the students.
Right and left side Don’t mind if anyone smashes your vehicle from behind while stopping at a red light at any traffic point on Ferozepore road. This often happens at this busiest road of the mega city because the traffic cones dividing the road are not there. The traffic cone divides the road in two way. The right side is used to turn right and those the commuters has to follow the traffic lights to do so. But for going straight there is no need to follow traffic lights as one can go through left side of the road. The commuters are used to follow this system and are habitual to this system. Now in the absence of traffic cones when there is no left and right way, some people presume that they have to follow traffic lights while others want to follow the system who often drive vehicle at high speed at Ferozepore road and while trying to cross the lights from left side, hit another vehicle.
Risk from
crackers During this season it is very common to see a half burnt cracker lying on the roads. Small children also sometimes light these crackers in the middle of the roads. This can be highly risky for the vehicles passing through there and also it could be risky for the children also. As soon as these children see a vehicle coming they start running and also do their best to save the cracker which they had placed on the roads. Sometimes in such hurry children could also get hurt. Careless use of these crackers should be avoided. Recently a scribe had to face the wrath of some youth who were bursting
crackers in the middle of the road. One can only wish that better sense prevails among all.
Road blocks Ludhianavis are charitable by nature. Periodically they arrange community lunch for the needy and the destitutes. The motive is good but the way they go about it is not good. The other day an organisation had cordoned off half a road by tying a rope. The poor were made to sit by the side of the road. Since it was a busy road , the cordoning of half part of the road caused chaotic conditions on the road. The traffic was thrown off the gear and there was a big traffic jam in no time. Later the whole road was in a mess as the organisers had provided no dustbins. The entire road presented a very
unhygienic and cluttered look. The people should arrange such functions in the open grounds as roads are not the right places. They should provide dustbins and see to the cleanliness of the venue. Cleanliness is next to Godliness.
Nightmarish traffic As the festival of lights is drawing near, the traffic in main markets and popular shopping centres is so chaotic, that everyone may it be a cyclist, or rickshaw puller, scooterist or a car driver is quite unsafe. The drive through the Karol Bagh of Ludhiana, Ghumar Mandi, during rush hours is a nightmarish experience. The double rows of cars parked on either side of the road make the wide road congested. Since there are no traffic lights on the crossings there. People turn their vehicles in any direction creating confusion. The tempers run high when someone car’s bumper or a cyclist or a scooterist hits any other vehicle. The traffic constable are standing near their parked vehicle right at the corner further obstructing the traffic. Behind the police vans are parked two Sumo vehicles so more chaos is there.
Encroachers' delight Every year with the arrival of festival season, opportunists properly utilises the major part of the roads for increasing sales and attracting customers. This is a common practice and every Tom, Dick and Harry is ‘licensed’ to use the roads and even pedestrian paths for displaying goods on the occasion of Divali. Those who encroach upon the roads, do not bother that these encroachments would become a traffic hazard and the commuters would have to face the music. It is a dream for the commuters to commute smoothly in the old city just because the festival season is on. One can witness heavy encroachments these days in the main shopping areas in the old city like Chaura Bazar, Lakkar Pul Market, Mali Ganj Street, Pindi Street, Ghaas Mandi and Civil Lines area near Kailash Cinema Chowk. These areas are densely populated. A little bit of encroachment leads to traffic zams for hours.
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Mayor lays foundation stone of sewerage project Ludhiana, November 13 Other guests present at the function were Mr Hira Singh Gabra, MLA, Giani Baldev Singh and Maj Sher Singh Aulakh, president of the welfare society. Speaking at the occasion, Mr Grewal said that the Municipal Corporation had fulfilled a long pending demand of the area by undertaking the sewerage project and various other development works. He further reiterated that the underdeveloped outer areas of the city, would be paid greater attention and higher allocation of funds would be ensured to provide all basic amenities to the residents of these areas. In his welcome address, Major Aulkah expressed satisfaction over the ongoing development works and more which were in the pipeline. Giani Baldev Singh, councillor explained in detail the development projects, carried out in the area, which included pavement of streets, resurfacing of the roads, installation of tubewells to augment water supply, development of parks and provision of street lights. He assured of a speedy execution of the projects. A directory of the welfare society of the locality was also released by the Mayor at this occasion, which according to Major Aulkah, was prepared with contributions from Mr Harkirat Singh, former Member PSEB, Mr M.S. Brar, Mr Sohan Singh Arewala, Ms Charanjit Kaur and Ms Sukhwant Kaur. Prominent among others present at the function were Mr Bhajan Singh Gill, Mr Inderjit Singh Sekhon, Mr Amarjit Singh, Mr Sajjan Singh, Mr H.S. Mangli, Ms Bhagwant Kaur, Ms Harinder Kaur and Ms Inderjit Kaur. |
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Bawa given Bairagi Rattan Award Ludhiana, November 13 Mr Bawa announced that the mandal would take up the construction of Bairagi Baba Banda Bahadur Bhavan in the city soon and negotiations were on to purchase suitable piece of land for this purpose. The mandal was also pursuing the matter of holding a national-level delegate session in Delhi under the leadership of its patron Mr Bal Kavi Bairagi, Member, Rajya Sabha, in future. According to Mr Ravinder Nandy, general secretary, the meeting endorsed the decision to dissolve the entire state executive and district-level bodies, except for president, secretary-general and general secretary. The new set-up will be announced soon. Through other resolutions, it was decided to get the body registered and open the enrolment of members to strengthen the organisation, encourage donations to the mandal at the time of religious and social functions and to approach the respective heads or mahants of big deras in Punjab to impress upon them the need for observing the traditions of bairagi community scrupulously. Prominent among those present at the meeting were Mr Mohinder Das Bawa (Mullanpur), Mr Fakir Das Bawa (Amritsar), Mr Raja Ram Changli, Mahant Harbhajan Das (Patiala), Mr Mohinder Singh Bawa, Dr Charan Das (Sangrur), Mr Rajinder Bawa (Jayantipur), Mr Devinder Das Mahant (Faridkot), Mr Rajeev Bawa, Mr Amandeep Bawa, Mr Tara Singh Bawa (Mohali), Mr Dara Das Bawa (Halllotali), Mr Krishan Kumar (Bhadson), Mr Mohan Bawa (Patiala), Mr Naresh Bawa, Mr Hans Raj Katron, Mr Raj Kumar Bawa, Mr Kewal Das Bawa (Dharoki), Mr Ashwani Mahant, Mr Amarjit Bawa and Mr Onkar Das Bawa (Jagraon). |
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SAD activists join Lok Bhalai Party Ludhiana, November 13 Speaking at the occasion, Mr Ramoowalia said SAD and Congress workers, being frustrated from the leadership of their respective parties, were turning towards the Lok Bhalai Party all over Punjab and the ranks of the party were swelling with each passing day. Several of the new entrants said they were thoroughly impressed by the way of working of Mr Ramoowalia and his result-oriented policies. The party under his dynamic leadership had taken various effective measures for the welfare of neglected and weaker sections besides securing the release of 31 Punjabi youth from the jails in Pakistan, they added. |
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Electroplating units seek reclaimed land Ludhiana, November 13 Mr Joginder Kumar, president of the association, in a press note issued here today, said, 'The PSIEC was allotted 349 acres of land in Phase-VIII in 1993, out of which 110 acres of land was reserved for the polluting industrial units, situated in the residential areas. This land was either encroached upon nor was under litigation.’’ He alleged that at the time of allotment of plots in 1996, the number of plots advertised were reduced in all categories due to the non-availability of land. Now the corporation has reportedly recovered 30 acres of land out of 110 acres. Mr Joginder Kumar said, 'This land should be either allotted to the association or the state government at a rate of Rs 126 per square yard, at which rate it was allotted to six big industrial units. The units in residential areas may be re-located to Phase-VIII for whom the land was originally acquired.’’
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