Phillaur, Pathankot municipal councils to face the heat
Umesh Dewan
Tribune News ServiceMarch 21
The Punjab Pollution Control Board has decided to file complaints against the Pathankot and Phillaur Municipal Councils in the court for defying the instructions issued by the PPCB for the implementation of the pollution control norms.The decision was taken during the quarterly board meeting held here today. The meeting was attended by board chairman Ravinder Singh, member secretary Dr Babu Ram, renowned environmentalist Balbir Singh Seechewal and all the board members.An official of the board said that the Phillaur Municipal Council was not complying with the provisions of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and was discharging the sewerage waste in an unscientific manner. In Pathankot, the Municipal Council was indulging in illegal dumping of the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). As per the law, in case of non-compliance of the board instructions for the enforcement of the pollution control norms, the PPCB can file a complaint against the erring municipal bodies in the court.Board member secretary Dr Babu Ram confirmed that the PPCB had unanimously resolved to file the complaint for the prosecution of the Phillaur and Pathankot municipal councils.Giving details of the proceedings of the meeting, he said, "The PPCB has issued instructions to the Mandi Gobindgarh Municipal Council to ensure the setting up of the Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP) in a time-bound manner to compliance with the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. Apart from this, the board has also instructed the Mandi Gobindgarh Municipal Council to make sure that the violations pertaining to the dumping of the MSW are stopped, failing which suitable action would be initiated."Board chairman Ravinder Singh said, "The board authorities have been directed to regularly monitor whether the municipal bodies all across the state are complying with the pollution control norms or not. Whosoever will violate the pollution control laws, have to face actionNow, industrialists oppose third power utility in Punjab
Umesh Dewan/TNSMarch 21
Industrialists have strongly reacted to the government's reported move to bifurcate the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) to pave way for creating the third power utility in the form of a separate power generation company.Asserting that the proposal, if implemented, would further deteriorate the fiscal health of the Power Corporation, majority of the industrialists are of the view that the state government must not take any such decision.President of the Induction Furnaces Association, Mandi Gobindgarh, Mahinder Gupta said even unbundling of the Punjab State Electricity Board was not the wise decision. He said, "Already there is lack of coordination between the two power utilities — PSPCL and the Punjab State Transmission Corporation Limited."Naresh Gupta, president of the Patiala Industries Association, said that rather than carving out separate power generation company, the state government should pay attention towards streamlining the functioning of the PSPCL and the PSTCL. "It is important to first set the house in order. Unless the functioning of the two power utilities comes on track and the Punjab Government takes steps to bail out the Power Corporation from the debt, the creation of generation company is not going to make any positive impact," he added.President, Apex Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Punjab, PD Sharma said that it would be ridiculous to create another power utility at a time when the Power Corporation was on the verge of bankruptcy. General secretary, Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings (CICU), Avtar Singh said that majority of the industrialists were not in favour of creation of the power generation company. "Instead of power generation company, the state government should focus on ensuring that the skilled staff at the disposal of the two power utilities discharge their duties in a diligent manner. Besides, emphasis should be on cutting down the expenses," he opined.Moga MC all set to become corporation
Tribune News ServiceChandigarh, March 21
The Moga Municipal Council is all set to become a municipal corporation. A petition challenging the conversion of the council to corporation was today withdrawn from the Punjab and Haryana High Court.The petitioner had thrown a challenge to the State of Punjab's decision to convert the council into a corporation. Taking up the petition, the High Court had stayed the conversion on October 18 last year, and had reserved orders on the petition.The High Court had also stayed the operation of notifications declaring Pathankot and Phagwara larger urban areas and creating municipal corporations after dissolving the municipal councils.The orders came on petitions filed by former councillor of Moga Surinder Singh and others.The petitioners had claimed the status of municipal corporation to the council, through notification issued on July 26, was arbitrary, illegal and without application of mind.He added it was a political decision taken by the ruling party on instructions from its party member and former state Education Minister Tota Singh. The decision was taken by the state "without considering the fact that Moga has population of just around 1.5 lakh and there are only 90,000 voters"
Punjab Census 2011:
Provisional census data has been released on only three parameters - population, gender and literacy. According to Jain, it would take at least six months to tabulate the data. The census was conducted in two phases across 58 lakh households in cities and 12,581 villages across the state.
Population Distribution
A unique way of publicity was introduced in Punjab for the first time through social marketing plan, wherein the philosophy, tools and practices of commercial marketing were used for the purpose.
Some facts about punjab population 2011
1. The provisional population numbers released by the Punjab Census Department recently suggest the decadal growth declined to 13.7 per cent during 2001-2011, as against 20.1 per cent during 1991-2001.
2. The decadal growth for the state is less than that for India (17.6 per cent). According to the provisional data, the state’s population touched 27.7 million, somewhat more than the projected figure of 27.6 million for 2011.
3. Of the 27.7 million, 14.6 million are males, while 13 million are female. In the 2001 census, the population stood at 20.1 million.
4. The sex ratio (number of females per thousand males) has risen to 893, as against 876 in the 2001 census.
5. All the 20 districts have witnessed an increase in sex ratio, with exceptions of Mansa and Bhatinda. For the latter, the ratio has declined to 865, as against 870 in the 2001 census.
6. Interestingly, Mansa has failed to show any change in the sex ratio, which is the same as that in the previous census (880).
7. The child sex ratio (0-6 years) has increased by 48 points. From 798 in the last census, it has moved to 846 now.
8. Nawanshehar(SBS)(879), Jalandhar(874) and Kapurthala(872) have shown the highest increase in child sex ratio. Tarn Taran has lowest child sex ratio (819).
9. The state seems to gaining on the literacy front too. Literacy has risen to 76 .7 per cent, as against 74 per cent in the 2001 census.
10. While female literacy has moved up by 7.9 percentage points, male literacy has increased by 6.3 points, further narrowing the gap.
11. Hoshiarpur has the highest literacy at 85.4 per cent, followed by Mohali (84.9) and Muktsar and Mansa are at the bottom with 60 and 56 per cent literacy, respectively.
12. Ludhiana has emerged as the most populous district with 34.87 lakh persons. Barnala has the lowest population with only 5.96 lakh people.
13. The highest growth rate of population has been in Mohali, Patiala and Tarn Taran, districts.
14. Census 2011 Punjab Population Density (per sq km) - 550
China’s urban transition causes growing inequality
A report by UN-Habitat
The word transition perhaps best describes China: the world’s most populous country is transitioning from a predominantly rural society to an urban one. China’s urbanization process in the last two decades has been extraordinary: the urbanization level in the country has nearly doubled from 25 per cent in 1987 to roughly 42 per cent in 2007; it is estimated that by 2030, 60 per cent of the country’s population will be urban. While urbanization has led to unprecedented economic growth it has also caused massive inequalities.
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