Garbage stench unbearable

The residents of Sachkhand road in Tarn Taran had been wanting to get rid of the foul smell emanting from the garbage dump of the Municipal Council (MC), which had spread to the middle of the road since long. The site is just a few yards away from the SDM’s complex, who also happens to be the administrator of Municipal Council, but even then no one is ready to resolve the issue.

The residents said they had approached the authorities many a time in the past to set the garbage at the filling site to give them relief from the foul smell but no one was willing to listen to them.

Revive industries in Goindwal Sahib

Ramandeep Singh Bharowal, president, Goindwal Sahib Industries Association, in a letter written to Bhagwant Maan, Chief Minister, Punjab, has reminded him to take steps for the development of industries in Goindwal Sahib. In his letter, Bharowal said that in 1980, the country’s first Nucleus Industrial Complex was established in Goindwal Sahib and to resolve the problems of entrepreneurs, the Goindwal Industries and Investment Corporation (GIICO) was formed to release loans to the entrepreneurs under a single window. He said that the initiative of the Union Government bore fruit and soon more than 140 units were established where about 7,000 youths including girls were given jobs. Bharowal said that in the Centre’s master plan, Goindwal Sahib village was to be developed on 6,000 acres of land with a population of 5 lakh in town. Population-wise, Goindwal Sahib was to be the state’s fourth city after Ludhiana, Patiala and Jalandhar. Bharowal said all signs of the Nucleus Industrial Complex were now no more and it had been merged in the Punjab Small Industries and Export Corporation (PSIEC) and is now a mere Focal Point. He said there were 62 industrial units and out of these, 23 units were vendors of the Bharat Heavy Electronics Ltd (BHEL) unit established in Goindwal Sahib as there were many chances for the development of industry as labour was easily available here. He said entrepreneurs and the industry were facing hardships as raw material was not available from any nearby location and the entrepreneurs had to go to either Amritsar or Jalandhar at a distance of more than 50 km. He said recently, the State Government in its Progressive Punjab Investors Summit-2023 invited corporate houses to invest in the State but the government forgot the interests of industries in Goindwal Sahib and its entrepreneurs as not one corporate house entered the area. Bharowal appealed to Deputy Commissioner Rishipal Singh to take up the issue with the State Government. The Deputy Commissioner had been awarded the first prize at the state level to encourage investment and clearance of required approvals to establish industrial units in this border district. In Tarn Taran town, there was an Industrial Focal Point which too deserves to be developed to provide jobs to the youth.

No taker for Shelter Home facility

Very few residents in Tarn Taran town and its surrounding areas would know that there is a ‘Shelter Home for Urban Homeless’ which has been existing in the town for over 10 years. The project is situated at an unknown site near the cremation ground on Sachakhand road. The project was given to the Municipal Council, Tarn Taran, by the Union Government under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) scheme. A double-storied building was constructed with a grant of Rs 52 lakh. The main aim of the project was to provide shelter to the homeless in the urban areas. The project with a double-storey building has two big halls with the capacity to adjust more than 100 odd homeless persons for shelter in case of need. Sources in the Municipal Council revealed that hardly anyone is seen taking shelter in the ‘Home’. The Municipal Council had deputed two watchmen (Chowkidars), one for the day and the other for night, to adjust the visitors coming to take shelter here. The residents of the surrounding areas and the shopkeepers said they had never seen anyone take shelter here. Investment in the project is proving to be useless till date.

(contributed by gurbaxpuri)