NEIGHBOURHOOD

Dera Bassi villagers do the incredible
Rendering ‘kar sewa’ for 3 years, they construct a 450-ft-long bridge benefitting 60 villages of Dera Bassi, Banur
Bipin Bhardwaj
Tribune News Service

Amlala (Dera Bassi), Nov 22
Altogether on a different footing, residents of scores of villages of this area lead by godman Mast Diwana Bulley Shah of Gharawan village have constructed a concrete bridge on the Ghaggar.

The bridge connecting Amlala village (Dera Bassi) with Karala village in Banur has come up at a cost of Rs 11.32 crore in just three years with the efforts of residents of the area who performed ‘kar sewa’.

The ‘kar sewaks’ generously contributed money from their savings to take forward the project to an exemplary conclusion under the driving force of the godman.

Hundreds of people worked daily for the past three years to complete the 450 ft long and 24 ft wide bridge that has reduced the distance between Dera Bassi and Banur drastically.

The nine-span-bridge has brought relief to the residents of over 60 villages of Banur and Dera Bassi and thousands of commuters of the area.

The most benefited are the residents of Amlala and other villages who own agriculture land in Karala and have to cross the raging Ghaggar during rains. Many village residents have also lost their near and dear ones and cattle to the fury of the river in the past.

The newly constructed bridge will formally be thrown open to the vehicular traffic by Mast Diwana Bulley Shah on Sunday morning, claimed godman Gafur, son of Mast Diwana Bulley Shah.

Village residents said that they had conceived the idea to construct a bridge on the river over 15 year ago and had started the construction work with the assistance of another Sikh godman earlier, but he left the project midway the villagers said.

Talking to The Tribune, godman Gafur, who is camping at the construction site and looking after the project since November 2011, expressed his displeasure over the indifferent attitude of the Punjab Government.

Criticising leaders of different political parties, godman Gafur said that the ruling SAD-BJP Government allegedly did not deliver the money (Rs 25 lakh) granted by Patiala MP Preneet Kaur for the noble cause.

Out of the grant (Rs 25 lakh), the government released a cheque of Rs 10 lakh in favour of the Ber Majra village panchayat in April 2013, but that too did not reach them as the area Block Development and Panchayat Officer (BDPO) refused to encash and handover the money to the gurdwara management committee, Amlala.

Headed by Harnek Singh, the committee is looking after the financial aspect of the project. A retired Executive Engineer of the Building and Road Wing of the Punjab Public Works Department had prepared the blue print for the bridge.

Harcharan Singh (70), a resident, claimed that earlier they had to take a detour of almost 60km to reach Banur from Dera Bassi via Zirakpur.

“During rains when the Ghaggar used to flow above the danger mark, the villagers of nearly 30 villages in the Dera Bassi subdivision and almost 35 villages of the Banur area were cut off from the main routes and had to either swim across the river or take the Dera Bassi-Zirakpur-Banur or other alternate routes from Lalru to reach Patiala”, claimed Balihar Singh Balli, a member of the gurdwara management committee.

Mohali, November 22
The Mohali police spent a total of Rs 1.82 crore on making special security arrangements to maintain law and order in connection with Rampal’s case hearings in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The Mohali police claimed to have especially deployed as many as 2,187 policemen at various nakas, sensitive points and on the Mohali-Chandigarh border for six days. The special nakas were laid at all entry points of Chandigarh through Mohali district. Besides, special forces were deployed at Zirakpur, Dera Bassi, Lalru and other roads of the district, which connect with Haryana and Chandigarh.

Mohali Senior Superintendent of Police Inder Mohan Singh Bhatti said as many as 1,622 cops were deployed for five days on November 5, 9, 10, 16 and 17 when Rampal was expected to be brought to Chandigarh court by the Haryana Police.

“On November 20, we deployed a total of 565 policemen to check entry of Rampal’s supporters through our area and to maintain law and order,” the SSP added.

“For the special arrangements on the six days in question, we have claimed the total expenses of Rs 1.82 crore,” the SSP said, while adding that the bill has been sent to the higher authorities.

Notably, the High Court has asked the police authorities to submit details of their expenses in connection with Rampal’s hearings. 

Panchkula, November 22
The consumer court today directed a mobile outlet to pay the amount of a mobile, i.e. Rs 8,900, that was found defective after the purchase. The court has also directed the outlet to pay the charges for mental agony as well as the cost of litigation.

The victim, Shivam Sahdev, claimed in his complaint that he purchased a Dell Aero mobile handset for a sum of Rs 8,900 on September 9, 2012, from Mobile Magic in Sector 11, Panchkula, with a warranty of one year.

But on the very next day, the phone started giving problem in Wi-Fi connectivity. The complainant approached the Op No.1 and he was told to try again using the Wi-Fi hotspot. But to no avail. The complainant again approached the shop officials but they advised Sahdev to take the phone to Dell care centre and refused to provide any services by saying that it’s not their job.

The complainant approached the Dell authorised service centre in Sector 32-C, Chandigarh, but they said the Wi-Fi was working just fine. The complainant tried to connect to a Wi-Fi hotspot but in vain. “The touch screen of the phone was also not responding well and it started to hang at regular interval of time. Later, the touch screen stopped working and one could only see the wallpaper on the mobile screen,” said the complaint. He, then, approached the Dell service centre and he was asked to come later. After one month, the complainant visited them again but nothing materialised. The complainant had also approached the Dell customer care centre in Bangalore. The court issued notices to the parties but no one appeared and an ex parte decision was taken.

The court has directed the mobile outlet to pay the price of the mobile along with 9 per cent interest and an amount of Rs 10,000 as the cost of mental agony that Sahdev underwent.

Chandigarh, November 22
The State Consumer Commission, Chandigarh, headed by Justice Sham Sunder (retd), has decided 62 complaints out of the 122 received this year, within a period of one month. The disposal of cases is well within the time frame of three months.

As per Section 13 of the Consumer Protection Act, every complaint shall be heard as early as possible and an endeavour shall be made to decide the complaint within a period of three months from the date of receipt of notice by the opposite party where the complaint does not require analysis or testing of commodities and within five months, if it requires analysis or testing of commodities.

As many as 45 complaints were decided within a period of two months and 15 within a period of three months. Even with regard to appeals and revisions, the state commission has religiously followed the objective of the Act.

A total of 562 out of 625 appeals/revisions have been decided within a period of one month only. Besides, 53 appeals/revision have been decided in two months while only 10 took over two months.

Advocate Pankaj Chandgothia said speedy redressal of grievances encouraged the exercise of legal rights and remedy by aggrieved consumers and at the same time, discouraged unscrupulous traders and service providers.

Mohali, November 22
The Mohali police have booked some unidentified persons for abducting a nurse from near the Fortis Hospital.

The complainant, Parvesh, a nurse at Fortis Hospital, alleged that she, along with her two colleagues Harmanpreet Kaur and Baljinder Kaur, were on their way to a private hostel at Kumbhra at around 10.30 pm last night, when a person stopped them near the hospital and struck up a conversation.

“Then he took Baljinder to a car, that was parked nearby, and forcibly pushed her inside the vehicle and drove away,” claimed Parvesh.

She claimed that the mobile phone of the victim was with her at the time of the incident.

Chandigarh, November 22
Government Model Senior Secondary School (GMSSS), Sector 26, booked their berth in the final of the Pandit Kedarnath Memorial (U-19) National Women Tournament today.

In the semifinal, the winning side posted 80-run win over Dev Samaj School, Sector 21. After electing to bat first, the winning side set a target of 158 runs in the allotted slot of 20 overs.

The innings was studded by an unbeaten knock of 86 runs by Ridhima Aggarwal off 55 balls. She was equally supported by Rajni, who scored 24 runs and Anu who contributed 27 runs to the team’s total. For the bowling side, Saloni and Doli claimed a wicket each.

While chasing the target, Dev Samaj School folded up their innings on a mere total of 73 runs in 16 overs. For the winning side,

Monica Pandey claimed two for eight runs while, Rajni and Preeti claimed two wickets each for eight and 11 runs respectively. 

Chandigarh, November 22
The Dev Samaj College for Women, Ferozepur City, won the Panjab University Wrestling Championship for Women with 16 points. The championship concluded on the Panjab University campus today.

Guru Nanak Girls College, Model Town, Ludhiana, was the runner-up with 15 points.

Chandigarh, November 22
IS Dev Samaj School Club, Sector 21, beat Government Model Senior Secondary School (GMSSS), Sector 56 (Club), by eight wickets in the Junior State Women Cricket Championship for Girls (U-19) today. After electing to bowl first, IS Dev Samaj School Club restricted the rivals’ batting line up on a mere total of 77 runs in 16.2 overs. For batting side, Rajni scored 24 runs.

For the bowling side, Dolly claimed four wickets while, Anuriti bagged two wickets. In reply, the winning side posted win in 13 overs with Dolly (26 runs) and Lovely (16 runs) contributing the lion’s share. For the bowling side, Himanshi claimed one wicket. — TNS