A year of controversies that ended with a silver lining : The Tribune India

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looking back 2014: ludhiana

A year of controversies that ended with a silver lining

SNATCHINGS: This year, the industrial hub of the region had something to cry and laugh about at the same time.

A year of controversies that ended with a silver lining

A large number of voters turned up to exercise their right to franchise during the Lok Sabha elections in Ludhiana. Tribune photos: Himanshu Mahajan and Inderjeet Verma



This year, the industrial hub of the region had something to cry and laugh about at the same time. For a city bursting at its seams, the civic amenities remained a blot on the functioning of the MC. The health services at the government hospitals and dispensaries evoked criticism from the public. Industry complained of bias. Snatching incidents continued unabated. Protests by government employees, teachers, students, pensioners kept making news. Wrangling political leaders pushing their self-serving agenda, squabbling municipal councillors generating controversies only added to the bleak scenario. With traffic chaos on roads, developmental projects hanging fire and graft cases coming to light, the city’s cup of woes seemed to overflow. Yet, there were certain projects like the railway underbridge became operational and the city was adopted by the Bharti Foundation for the rural sanitation programme. Last but not the least, the sheer spunk and the never-say-die attitude of the people of Ludhiana made all the difference.

Face of democracy 

The youth who hurled a shoe at the Punjab Chief Minister in police custody at Issru.

Shoe-hurling at CM at Issru
The shoe-hurling incident during Chief Minister (CM) Parkash Singh Badal’s address at Issru on August 15 remained a hot topic with other party leaders. The CM termed it as a “deep-rooted political conspiracy”. 

2014 general poll had 34,410 new voters
In the 2014 General Election, the Ludhiana Parliamentary Constituency had 15,59,851 voters, out of which  34,410 were first timers.The Ludhiana Lok Sabha Constituency recorded 70.22 per cent voting. 

Four-cornered contest
With legislator Simarjit Singh Bains contesting as an Independent candidate from the Ludhiana Parliamentary Constituency, the general election here was a four-cornered contest. SAD candidate Manpreet Singh Ayali (also an MLA) finished a poor third, with Bains trailing behind him. The AAP candidate, HS Phoolka, stood second in the fray. The Congress candidate, Ravneet Singh Bittu, won with a thin margin. 

District Akali Dal gets new heads
The District Akali Dal got its new chiefs. Santa Singh Umaidpur is the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Ludhiana-rural chief, while Madan Lal Bagga is the SAD Ludhiana Urban-1 president. Harbhajan Singh Dang is the SAD Ludhiana Urban-2 chief.

On a cheery note

Bharti Foundation adopts city
The Bharti Foundation adopted Ludhiana district for a rural sanitation programme.  

Railway underbridge operational
The Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA) Railway underbridge on Lodhi Road railway level crossing was made operational to ensure smooth flow of traffic.

PAU on a roll
Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) released many new varieties for general cultivation in Punjab. The PAU successfully developed a low-cost indigenous greenhouse hydroponics technology. Dr Baldev Singh Dhillon, Vice-Chancellor, PAU, was selected for the prestigious Dr BP Pal Memorial Award by the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences. The PAU was declared as the “Centre of Excellence for Seed Production” by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. 

GADVASU on a high
The Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) bagged the “Partnership Excellence Award” from the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development. Students of the department of veterinary surgery and radiology, GADVASU, won three gold medals at the 38th Annual Congress of the Indian Society of Veterinary Surgery (ISVS).

Cultural kaleidoscope  

SPICMACAY brings in the best
Santoor maestro Shiv Kumar Sharma mesmerised audience at a programme organised by SPICMACAY.


Santoor maestro Shiv Kumar Sharma performs at Ramgarhia Girls College during a programme organised by SPICMACAY.

Punjabi Sahit Akademi gets new chief
Dr Sukhdev Singh Sirsa took over as the president of the Punjabi Sahit Akademi.

Flop shows

LIT couldn’t auction a single property
The LIT failed to sell even a single property for four times in succession at the public auctions conducted from June 2013 to December 2014. 

Major projects scrapped
Touted as major infrastructure development projects which would change the face of the city, the water front city, integrated industrial park, urban estate, Sahnewal, and urban estate, Samrala, were scrapped citing financial constraints. 

No city bus service
The City Bus Service had to be stopped in July as the company running the service demanded that the amount pending with the LMC be paid to it.

Seamier side of the city

Diarrhoea claims 4 lives
Diarrhoea claimed four lives in and around the city this year. Residents blamed it on “contaminated” water supply.



 

Snatchings, robberies on the rise
There was no stopping to snatching incidents and robberies this year as well. In one such incident, hosiery trader Ramji Das was assaulted and robbed by two armed men near Kailash Cinema when he was returning home with cash. The attack led to Das losing vision in one eye. 

Man stabbed 26 times, dies
The case of Jaspreet Singh Bawa, who succumbed to injuries after being stabbed 26 times following a brawl outside an eatery in Chauri Sarak in June.

All sound and fury

GLADA fails to construct bypass
The Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA) faced the wrath of residents as it failed to construct 1.72-km length of missing link II of the Southern Bypass from Dugri-Dhandra Road to Dhuri railway line.

LMC staff dissatisfied
The employees of the financially-starved Ludhiana Municipal Corporation(LMC) kept holding protests and dharnas to get their monthly salaries.

Poor infrastructure worries residents
Residents of several posh residential localities complained about bad roads, neglected parks and green belts, inadequate drainage and non-functional streetlights in the absence of a full-time Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) Chairman. 

Power problem looms large
Erratic power supply, tripping, load shedding and shutdowns for repair and maintenance continued to irk industrialists and residents of the city. 

Fee hike in pvt schools a cause of worry
Parents organised a series of protests over fee hike in private schools.They sought some regulation and control over the fee structure and fee hike in private schools. But nothing much changed. 

Livid teachers
Teachers’ unions and employees of the Education Department held frequent protests, rallies against the state government.

Unsafe school buildings
Unsafe school buildings kept making headlines.

Fair game

City hosts World Kabaddi League
The city played host to the inaugural edition of the World Kabaddi League. The league got a good response from the public and brought the game repute.

A match in progress between Pakistan and England during the World Kabaddi Cup.

NBA’s Bowen on promotional tour
The National Basketball Association (NBA) legend, Bruce Bowen from Merced, California, a three-time NBA champion, visited Ludhiana for a week-long promotional tour to support the growth of basketball.

Commonwealth Games glory
City players basked in the Commonwealth Games glory at Glasgow. Maliaka Goel notched up a silver medal in the 10m air pistol event, while Vikas Thakur won a silver medal in the 85kg weight category. Another player, Arpinder, bagged the bronze medal. 

Acknowledging Jarkhar Hockey
The Jarkhar Hockey was affiliated as the Hockey India’s (HI’s) seventh academy member.

Murders most foul

A crowd gathers outside the 17-year-old victim’s house, who was set on fire, in Dhandari.

17-year-old set afire in Dhandari
A 17-year-old girl was set on fire at her house at Prem Nagar in Dhandari. The victim succumbed to burn injuries. Her grisly death sparked protests, with politicians trading charges to suit their political agenda.  

Mysterious death of Rahul Verma
The year began with the gruesome murder of Rahul Verma at his house in South City. Assailants injured his sister and stacked her in a cupboard. Fortunately, she survived. The murder still remains a mystery. 

Double murder in Jamalpur area
Towards the end of the year, the city witnessed the gruesome double murder of Harinder and Jatinder who were killed at a rented house in the Jamalpur area on the Chandigarh Road in September. There was panic among the residents of the area and it was one of the most talked about murder of the year.

Adieu 

Stalwarts pass away
The year drew to a close on a sombre note, with the demise of cultural stalwart Jagdev Singh Jassowal.

Veteran Akali Dal leader Jathedar Jagdev Singh Talwandi passed away in September.

Controversy’s favourite child 

Cops on the back foot
The police courted controversy in many cases. The death of Abhishek Banerjee under mysterious circumstances and the alleged suicide by MD paediatric aspirant Dr Supriya put the police on the back foot as parents of both the deceased accused the police of working overtime to shield the culprits. 

Congress a divided house
Factionalism in the District Congress was at its peak in 2014. The District Congress Committee Ludhiana (Urban) got a new chief Gurpreet Bassi Gogi, after the earlier chief Pawan Dewan was shown the door. This led to protests by a section of the Congress. The PPCC chief Partap Singh Bajwa’s visit to Ludhiana in the later part of the year was marred by controversy, with some party workers and Dewan’s supporters showing black flags to him.


Some Congress workers protest against Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief Partap Singh Bajwa.

Manish Tewari’s flip-flop show
Former MP Manish Tewari’s flip-flop on contesting from the Ludhiana Lok Sabha Constituency drew flak from a section of the Congress in city.

Noted singer acquitted in rape case
Nachattar Gill, a noted Punjabi singer facing accusations of raping a budding model on the pretext of giving her a role in his music album, was acquitted by a local court. In a dramatic twist, the alleged victim said before the court that Gill never raped her, blackmailed or made any MMS of her.

School gets poor response
Senior Secondary School for Meritorious Students, an initiative to facilitate meritorious students from the weaker section of society, got a poor response in the district as the Education Office received only 130 applications for admission against 500 seats of Class XI. 

Anti-encroachment drives in eye of storm
The anti-encroachment drives conducted by the LMC remained in the eye of a storm with allegations that the civic body had adopted a “pick and choose” policy. 

The nemesis 

Bhootna gets life term for murder
Balbir Singh Bhootna, an alleged Babbar Khalsa terrorist, was awarded life imprisonment in a shootout case in August 2009 at the local railway station. The incident claimed the life of a tea-vendor Santosh. Holding him guilty, the court ordered him to undergo rigorous life imprisonment. A fine of Rs 20,000 was also imposed on him. However, the court acquitted his alleged woman aide Sukhjinder Kaur for want of convincing evidence against her, in this case. The decision brought some solace to the family of the vendor.

Benefit of doubt

Shingar Cinema bomb blast: 3 acquitted Infamous Shingar Cinema bomb blast case (On October 14, 2007, a bomb blast rocked Singar Cinema Hall, killing at least seven persons, including an 11-year-old boy, and injuring over 30 others) ended with the acquittal of all the three accused - Gurpreet Singh, alias Khalsa of Mandi Mullanpur,  Harminder Singh of Ludhiana, and Ravinder Singh, alias Rinku of Azad Nagar, Ludhiana, on December 16. They were acquitted by the court of Additional Sessions Judge HS Grewal, giving them the benefit of doubt with the observation that the prosecution witnesses did not inspire confidence. Two prime prosecution witnesses were declared to be “stock witnesses” (gollu gawah).

Mission cleanliness

Jagannath rath yatra with a difference
Unlike previous years, the Bhagwan Jagannath Rath Yatra Mahotsav Committee this time deployed 500 volunteers who kept following the yatra with brooms and buckets to clean up the  road through which the yatra passed.

Charity begins at home

LIT fails to recover money from MCs
LIT has been facing resource crunch to carry out routine development and maintenance works, it failed to recover loans given to the MC, Ludhiana; the MC, Nawanshahr; and the Phagwara Improvement Trust.

Glam quotient 

Punjab fashion week designers’ forte
A galaxy of fashion designers came to the city as part of the Punjab International Fashion Week.

Actor-model Koena Mitra with designer AD Singh during the first day of the Punjab International Fashion Week.

Anupam Kher in city
Actor Anupam Kher came to the city to stage his autobiographical play, “Kuch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai”, at Guru Nanak Bhawan.

Varun takes city by storm
Residents were smitten by actor Varun Dhawan when he visited the city.

Former Prez Abdul Kalam visits schools
Throughout the year, the city schools slipped effortlessly into celebration mode. Former President and scientist Dr APJ Abdul Kalam’s visit to some schools in Ludhiana was a memorable occasion.

Fashionistas’ delight
Fashion shows and wedding exhibitions were  a source of delight for fashionistas in the city.

Ill-equipped Mother & Child Hospital

Hasty inauguration of ill-equipped Mother and Child Hospital that was short on infrastructure and medical care facilities led to the death of two newborn babies and three still births at the hospital. The hospital was in news for the wrong reasons.

GADVASU students on 2-month strike

 

Students of the department of fisheries, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU), held a two-month-long hunger strike. Students held authorities and state government responsible for their “unemployment” but the strike fizzled out after about two months. 

Contributed by Minna Zutshi, Anupam Bhagria, Mohit Khanna, Shivani Bhakoo, Manav Mander, Charanjit Singh Teja, Gurvinder Singh, Kuldip Bhatia, Anil Datt and Rajneesh Lakhanpal.

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