Gurdaspur Diary: Who will bell the cat?
In India, the word ‘well-planned’ city seldom exists. If we talk of Gurdaspur, there are more than a hundred illegal colonies that have sprouted in the last five years. The district administration, following the AAP party line, has now come down heavily on illegal colonies and encroachments. People with deep pockets but agriculture land on both sides of the Amritsar-Batala-Gurdaspur-Dinanagar-Pathankot National Highway and carve out plots which are later sold to gullible buyers. Such entities have no sewerage facilities, nor do they have an adequate drinking water system. The electricity peoples, too, are loath to provide them with power connections. The master plan is shredded to smithereens by these illegal colonisers. They have no licence to sell but are doing it anyway. Politicians have a stake in such ventures and hence they often build pressure on government officials for registering sale deeds. Government functionaries, too, park their ill-gotten wealth here. All this puts legal colonisers at a disadvantage. The real ones have to take permission from half a dozen departments before they can even think about carving out a residential colony. Town planning officials admit that PUDA-approved Dala enclave on the jail road is probably one of the best colonies not only in Gurdaspur but in the entire state. Its owner Manjit Singh Dala, a prominent realtor, claims he has followed all norms envisaged by the PUDA and other agencies while establishing the colony. Needless to say houses and plots sell like hot cakes. There are two types of frauds that are committed by people engaged in illegal residential colonies business. First, these people sell plots sans basic amenities. Secondly, the government is cheated as plots are being sold at different rates and this is causing a loss of stamp duty to the exchequer. Big money is invested in this unauthorised business by both politicians and government officials. Hence, this gives rise to million rupee question: Who will bell the cat?
Innocent intruders make way to India
This border district has a long and at times porous, border with Pakistan. At times, mentally-deranged persons inadvertently cross over into India. So much so, these people do not even know they have stepped into a foreign land. On their part, BSF officials serve them with tea before they are sent back to Pakistan. This activity is not so common but one intruder does arrive into Indian territory once every two months. The more expert ones, trained in unleashing terror in India, often cross over from near Bamiyal village in Pathankot district. The three Lashkar militants who laid siege to the Dinanagar police station on June 27, 2015 came via this route. Six months later, on January 2, 2016, four Jaish-e-Mohammad militants created havoc at the Pathankot air base and killed four before the National Security Guards (NSG) launched a strike to kill all four of them. These terrorists had also used the Bamiyal route. The BSF always makes it a photo-op whenever an intruder is caught near the IB. Last week was no different when the security men caught a youth loitering near the IB. It can be said without an iota of doubt that the BSF never finds itself napping whenever an intrusion takes place.
To sustain livelihood, Poor get e-rickshaws
AAP Halqa In-charge Raman Bahl organised a camp for people who desired to sustain their livelihood by plying electric rickshaws popularly known as e-rickshaws or Tuk-Tuks as they are known in the Batala-Gurdaspur-Dinanagar-Pathankot belt. These contraptions are powered by an electric motor and have become immensely popular in a short period of time. “Their popularity is due to zero fuel cost and ease of use as compared to manually-pulled rickshaws and diesel guzzling autos. Air pollution in Gurdaspur has come down substantially. I am also facilitating bank loans to ensure the poor can earn their daily bread by plying an e-rickshaw,” said Bahl.
(Contributed by Ravi Dhaliwal)
