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Dengue tightens grip, 69 more hospitalised
Ludhiana, October 17 The mosquito-borne viral infection has already taken a toll of eight human lives while the total number of dengue cases since September onwards has crossed 500. The Health Department has, however, put the number of fresh cases of dengue during this period at 29. According to information collected from different hospitals, Christian Medical College and Hospital received the maximum number of dengue patients since Sunday with new admission of 26 cases, followed by SPS Apollo Hospitals (14), Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (13), Mohan Dai Oswal Cancer Hospital (11) and Bhagwan Ram Charitable Hospital (5). Meanwhile, Dr Vandana Rajput, a consultant physician at The Apollo Clinic here, has stressed that in the absence of a specific treatment or vaccine against dengue, prevention was the only safeguard. She advised people not to let fresh water accumulate since the aedes mosquito bred in it. Further, people should wear full-sleeve shirts and full- length trousers, use mosquito repellents, keep doors and windows closed and use anti-mosquito sprays, besides pouring kerosene over stagnant water, if any. Dr Rajput pointed out that dengue presented itself in three ways — dengue fever, in which the patient had high-grade fever and body aches, dengue haemorrhagic fever, when the platelet count of a person decreased and the dengue shock syndrome, caused due to a drop in the blood pressure after bleeding from gums and bowels and drastic fall in the platelet count. The dengue shock syndrome could lead to multi-organ failure as a result of decreased blood circulation to various parts of the body. “Dengue fever can be suspected when the platelet count of a patient decreases, and the bleeding time and the clotting time increases. The serology test with a dengue kit helps to confirm dengue fever. The treatment of dengue fever is supportive. Antipyretics like paracetamol are given to bring down the fever. Platelet transfusion is done after plasma-pheresies in a platelet separator machine,” she added.
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Clock Tower turns 100 today
Ludhiana, October 17 The Clock Tower, the prime landmark of the city, has also come up as the representative emblem of Ludhiana. The tower had been erected as a memorial to the silver jubilee year of Queen Victoria’s regime. Although Giani Zail Singh, during his tenure as the Chief Minister of the state, had rechristened it as Bhagwan Mahavir Clock Tower, obviously with political motives, nobody knows it with any other name than Ghanta Ghar. However, the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation, which is supposed to maintain the tower, appears to have forgotten it. Municipal officials said there was no plan to mark the 100th anniversary of the tower. In 1906, the tower was erected with the contribution of leading people of the city. At that time, it had been erected in the heart of the city, with Chaura Bazar, the courts and the tehsil office in the vicinity. Even today, the Clock Tower area is considered to be the epicentre of the city that has spread out far and wide over the last century. Over the years, the Clock Tower had become an epicentre of various activities in the city. Besides commercial activities, because of Chaura Bazar being nearby, a lot of political activity would take place there. All political parties, even now, stage dharnas and demonstrations around the tower so that the message is conveyed to maximum people who remain around. Old timers recall that earlier the tower could be seen from a few miles. However, with the pollution increasing in the city and high-rise buildings coming up, the visibility has become low. Regrettably, due to the poor maintenance, the tower has started showing signs of dilapidation with cracks having appeared from inside. It needs immediate attention, lest an important relic of the Raj disappears.
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Encroachers add chaos to traffic
Ludhiana, October 17 Encroachers are having a field day on both sides of the road while the authorities continue to look the other way. Residents say they are sick of knocking at the doors of the authorities. Now, they have decided to move court. Gill Road, also known as the Ludhiana-Malerkotla highway, is in fact, the worst road in the city. Most part of it is encroached upon and piles of garbage greet the commuters on the road. The problem is compounded by small-scale industrial units, which exhibit their goods on the roadside, narrowing it further. Encroachers like vegetable vendors, meat sellers and scrap dealers add to the chaos. The Environmental and Welfare Association of the area had sent a legal notice to the civic body under the MC Act, demanding that the road should be cleared. The notice, however, did not yield anything. “Heaps of sand are lying on both sides of the road. Vegetable vendors and shopkeepers display their goods on the sides and create a traffic bottleneck. There is no footpath on either of the sides and half the portion of the road is kutcha. It is occupied by shopkeepers who have extended their shops right up to the middle of the road by using shamianas and tarpaulin,” said Mr Sher Singh, a resident. Some commuters had made crossings in the divider at a number of places. Gates of small units also opened on the road where heavy machinery was downloaded, leading to traffic problems. Around 60 kiosks put up on the road near Arora Cinema have eaten into the road. “The MC had removed these some time ago, but these are back again. We have come to know that their cases are in court and nothing can be done as of now,” added Mr Sher Singh.
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Flood threat to Halwara
Air Force Station
Halwara (Ludhiana), October 17 An old crack in the banks of the canal just near the main road has developed into a major gap with the gushing water of the canal eating into the banks towards the station. Despite several communications to the Canal Department, the cracks were not repaired and have thus developed into huge cracks. Officials sources feared that the wide gap was threatening to develop into a breach that can inundate the low-lying residential areas besides the key installations. At least three breaches, one near Ahmedgarh, had occurred in the canal last year. Air Force officials have been writing letters to the Irrigation Department for immediate repair work on the banks and to The main fears were that the water would flood the low-lying area in the station. A visit to the site revealed that there were considerable weak points along the canal and there was a threat to residential areas in Gurusar Sudhar also. Sandbags were seen places along the banks that were cracking or had already cracked up. The canal passes along the boundary of the air force station and any seepage can cause trouble. Interestingly, last year also the banks were strengthened only after media reports highlighted the threat perception. The Canal Department officials, however, claimed that they have been doing repairs off and on. They said the major repairs would be undertaken now when the paddy season is over and there would be less pressure of water supply on the canals. The officials said the canals have to be closed for the repairs and this was not possible in the paddy season when the demand of water was quite high.
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City resident irked with power board
Ludhiana, October 17 Mr Narinder Singh, a resident of Ram Nagar, said though he had met the PSEB Chief Engineer and written to him several times, the electricity meter of his neighbour remained installed on his wall. “I have brought this to the notice of electricity board officials, but my repeated efforts have failed to bear fruit. Though it is not affecting my billing, why should they put someone else’s electricity meter on my wall?” he rued. He said,“It is an error which won’t take them more than a few minutes to rectify. I am surprised they have taken no action in this regard.”
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MLA’s nephew cremated
Samrala, October 17 The body was brought here today afternoon from the PGI, Chandigarh. The deceased had died in J & K on Sunday after he fell into a khud. Among those who attended the funeral included Mr Harmohinder Singh Gill, MLA, Mr Balbir Singh Rajewal, national general secretary, Mr Jagjeewan Singh Kheernian, general secretary of the Youth Akali Dal (Badal).
— OC
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Pensioners list
demands
Ludhiana, October 16
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Man held for rape of
minor
Jagraon, October 17 A case under Sections 376, 452 and 506 of the IPC has been registered. Sources said Sukha was arrested today and would be produced before the Illaqa Magistrate tomorrow. Cheater
booked: One held
for gambling:
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HSBC launches Helping Hands Mela
Ludhiana, October 17 The company, in a press note issued here today, said the proceeds of the sale would go towards supporting a charitable cause in communities where these NGOs have their presence. The annual event by the HSBC would continue till October 20. This is the sixth year of the mela and over 100 NGOs across the country were participating with community work profiles ranging from child welfare, tribal development, welfare of the physically and mentally challenged, rural development and art and craft development, the company said. As many as 41 HSBC branches across 25 cities of Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Indore, Nagpur, Kolkata, Patna, Raipur, Delhi, Gurgaon, Chandigarh, Noida, Ludhiana, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bangalore, Mysore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Cochin, Coimbatore, Thiruvananthapuram and Visakhapatnam, HSBC Group companies, HSBC Software Development (India) Private Limited in Pune and HSBC Operations and Processing Enterprise (India) Private Limited in Mumbai and Chennai were participating in the mela.
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