An eventful year for city residents

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, December 31

Year 2018 would be the best-remembered in Jalandhar primarily for fulfilling long-due promise of starting the domestic flight from the Adampur Airport.

The historic moment for entire Doaba came when the first flight from New Delhi landed at Adampur on May 1.

This is also the year when the city has got its new Mayor Jagdish Raja on January 25, though not much of the MC’s activity, other than the encroachment drive at Skylark Hotel could be seen.

The incident of assault on a Building Inspector and a subsequent lodging of an FIR against ex-Mayor Suresh Sehgal too made headlines.

The surprise visits of Local Bodies Minister Navjot Sidhu and the suspension of officials by him also led to slowing down the pace of work in the MC. His visits also infuriated Congress MLA Sushil Rinku, who openly opposed the demolitions ordered by him.

The demise of Shahkot MLA Ajit Singh Kohar also led to the conduct of bypoll in May this year. The victory of the Congress leader Hardev S Laddi led to the addition of number of seats with the Congress, which managed to attain 2/3 majority in the state.

Politically, another major development, related to the region, was the acquittal of Akali leader Jagir Kaur in the case against her related to the death of her daughter Harpreet Kaur in the 18-year-old case.

The year also saw a gala wedding of comedian Kapil Sharma with his Jalandhar-based girlfriend Ginni Chatrath, too, hogged the limelight.Residents enjoyed the daily release of select photographs of the beautiful bride from the week-long wedding celebrations in the city.

In crime, the biggest incident was the Maqsudan blast wherein four Kashmiris, including two local college students, were booked. The recovery of weapons from Kashmiri students from another engineering college also led to panic in the city. A massive protest by sugarcane farmers near Phagwara on the National Highway also evoked much unrest.

The second phase of the Jang-e-Azadi memorial, too, was launched this year. The philanthropists from the city extended a helping hand to the victims of flood-ravaged Kerala. The district administration transferred an amount of Rs 20.43 lakh to Kerala CM relief fund.

Main events

• The historic moment for entire Doaba came when the first flight from New Delhi landed at Adampur on May 1. 
• In crime, the biggest incident was the Maqsudan blast wherein four Kashmiris, including two local college students, were booked. The recovery of weapons from Kashmiri students from another engineering college also led to panic in the city.
• The year also saw a gala wedding of comedian Kapil Sharma with his Jalandhar-based girlfriend Ginni Chatrath, too, hogged the limelight.Residents enjoyed the daily release of select photographs of the beautiful bride from the week-long wedding celebrations in the city.