Join hands against drugs

Many youngsters came from different villages of Ludhiana and other districts to stage protest against drugs at Bharat Nagar Chowk here earlier this week. They kept standing in scorching heat, making an appeal to commuters to join hands against drugs. One of the protesters from a village in Bathinda said, “Whenever we visited any village during the campaign against drugs, a large number of villagers came forward to join hands in the mission. However, only a few people from the city came forward to make a human chain against drugs. There is no doubt that many families in rural areas have been ruined by drugs. But, it does not mean that the city is drug-free. You can find many sufferers in the city areas too. Everybody should raise voice against drugs, else the menace will continue to ruin more families.”

Dope test

Ever since the Captain Amarinder Singh government has announced to conduct dope test of all government employees, a trend has caught up among the politicians to get their dope tests conducted and upload their certificates on social media. But, people wonder if the trend will help in checking drug menace, which has reached an alarming stage. A majority of people say rather than indulging in this trend, the politicians should join hands and make efforts to root out menace of drugs.

Coalition partners drifting apart

Of late or perhaps after the Assembly elections, where both the SAD-B and BJP got a drubbing defeat, the alliance partners seem to be drifting apart, at least in the city. After the Congress assumed power, both the parties have held several protests and dharnas against varied issues like drugs, power-tariff hike, politicising of developmental works undertaken by the MC or black day to mark imposition of emergency, but the allies went alone in organising these protests. If protests held by the BJP did not have participation of the SAD-B leaders, those organised by the senior alliance partner were not attended by the BJP leaders. In fact, some sections in both the parties hold each other responsible for their poor performance in the Assembly polls to the extent that there were talks in both the parties. The two parties will have to put their act together and achieve a higher level of coordination if they are to act as an effective opposition, feel senior leaders in the two parties.

United struggle for happier lives

Seeing residents gathering and protesting for the past five days, a passerby said it was great to see residents get together for the common cause of saving trees. “It is a good sign that people of the city are fighting against what is wrong. Though, people should have opposed this project right from the beginning, but it is better late than never,” he said. Every resident of this city needs to realise that they need to get together to fight against several issues and injustices, including inordinate parking fee, garbage on roads and lack of disposal, paucity of toilets, pollution from factories, increase in the number of liquor vends and many more problems. “If we can struggle together, each person in the city can live happily,” he said.

All Tandarust!

The campaign of the state government- “Tandarust Punjab” has become too popular all over. Be it the Health Department or the Irrigation Department, MC, administration, PPCB etc. Almost all departments are trying hard to do something related to Tandarust Punjab and if they fail to keep up with the campaign, they send press releases to link the activities with the mission. The office is getting several such press releases in which it is said that the weeds along the Buddha Nullah were cleaned under the “Tandarust Punjab” mission or the students were honoured under the mission. Everyone seems to be busy in making higher-ups “happy”!

Elevated road project another threat

While Ludhiana is witnessing an elevated road project on Ferozepur Road, the grim reality of other flyovers in the city is not unknown to people. In order to make the city 'smart' by erecting bridges in the congested area, the fact remains that what lies beneath the flyover has been ignored. A couple of days before, an interaction with the family living beneath a flyover went like this: “For us flyovers are a home. It gives us shelter during night. We beg during the day.”

Contributed by: Harshraj Singh, Jaswant Shetra, Kuldip Bhatia, Gurvinder Singh, Shivani Bhakoo, Naina Mishra