Phagwara, June 13
The Phagwara Nagar Council has started working on the feasibility of the proposed extension of the municipal limits of the town, even as the foundation stone of a Rs 8.25 crore project for laying a separate sewerage system had already been laid by the Local Bodies Minister, Chaudhary Jagjit Singh.

The Nagar Council President, Mr Malkiat Singh Ragbotra, told The Tribune that the Council had requisitioned the services of a Patwari for assessing and surveying the areas to be included in the extended municipal limits.

The survey had studied the gains and liabilities to be accrued from the proposed extension, he added. The proposal had been sent to the Local Bodies Minister who had given the Nagar Council a go ahead on the issue, Mr Ragbotra added.

“The proposal will be implemented only after a thorough study of its feasibility and benefits is done. If its found gainful, then the extension will be undertaken,” he said.

When asked as to how much area would be included in the proposed extension of the municipal limits, Mr Ragbotra said it would range from one to two km from the border of the present limit.

“We have proposed to extend the limits up to the Mehli-Mehtan bypass linking Phagwara on two sides on the GT Road.

Divulging details of another proposal, Mr Ragbotra said the ambitious, wide-piped separate sewerage project costing Rs 8. 25 crore, would benefit 50,000 residents in 12 localities.

He claimed that the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board had given it a nod after the local MLA , Mr Joginder Singh Mann, wrote to the Board about the matter. 

Jalandhar, June 13
As political parties continue garnering publicity through their anti-fuel price hike blitzkrieg on the Centre, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) too does not want to miss out on the attack.

The party led by Ms Mayawati today announced to hold statewide protest dharnas on June 15 in all district headquarters in Punjab.

Following this, on July 2, the party, gearing up for the forthcoming Punjab Assembly polls, will hold a state-level “brainstorming” session in the city.

The party workers will be given crucial tips by none other than the BSP chief, Ms Mayawati, herself, along with the National General Secretary, Mr Narinder Kashyap, and the state unit chief, Mr Avtaar Singh Karimpuri.

Hot issues like the recent hike in petrol and diesel prices and the OBC quotas would figure high on the party’s agenda during the session.

BSP workers from Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Chandigarh may also participate.

Observers say BSP’s future strategies, particularly on north India, may be shaped during the meetings.

Addressing a press conference here, Mr Narinder Kashyap, Mr Avtaar Singh Karimpuri and Mr Pawan Tinu, the General Secretary of the BSP’s Punjab unit, said the fuel price hike had badly hit the common man.

“The poor man will be the worst sufferer. The price hike on petroleum products will fuel another round of hike in the cost of essential commodities like wheat, flour and pulses. We have decided to fight a battle for the rights of the common man from June 15,” the leaders said.

“Not only BSP workers, but the common people will also take part in this war against the fuel price hike. How can the UPA ignore the interests of the 55 per cent of the country’s population reeling under poverty for a handful of people? The BSP leadership, particularly Ms Mayawati, has taken this price hike issue seriously,” Mr Tinu and Mr Amarjit Sidhu, the Secretary of the Punjab unit, said. 

Phagwara, June 13
Acting on complaints about banned drugs being freely available at clinics, the health authorities here today seized from two clinics capsules, tablets, syrups and injections which could have been misused as toxicants.

A team of doctors headed by Phagwara Senior Medical Officer (SMO), Dr Yash Mitra, raided clinics at Mehli Gate and Basant Nagar and recovered banned many drugs.

At both these places, banned tablets and capsules were stored without any licence, the SMO said.

According to sources, a team of doctors consisting of Dr P.S. Thind, Dr Baldev Sharma and Dr Harshdeep Singh, during raids on unregistered medical practitioners, found one Amrik Singh of Mehli Gate and one Sukhwinder Singh of Basant Nagar supplying banned drugs without obtaining licences.