Punjab CM announces projects worth Rs 2,140 cr in Jalandhar
Shahkot, June 14: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday announced development projects of Rs 2,140 crore for Jalandhar and Shahkot as a gesture of gratitude to the people for ensuring the Congress candidate's victory in the Shahkot bypoll.
Addressing a thanksgiving rally here, the Chief Minister said the Congress was indebted to the voters of the Shahkot assembly segment, who had ensured a sweeping victory for party's candidate Hardev Singh Laddi to secure two-thirds majority for the Congress in the state assembly.
Announcing a slew of infrastructure and other development projects, he asked legislators Rana Gurjit Singh and Laddi to submit a detailed proposal of projects for Shahkot so that the funds, as needed, could be released at the earliest.
While work on four-laning of Jalandhar-Hoshiarpur, up to Himachal border (National Highway 70) had already started at a total cost of Rs 1,069 crore, another Rs 1,000 crore had been allocated for four-laning of Jalandhar bye-pass linking National Highway 70 and 71 from Jandhu Singha to Pratappura via Jamsher, said Amarinder Singh.
Other infrastructural development projects announced by him included construction of road over bridge on the Chougeti-Ladhewali road, besides widening and strengthening of the Jalandhar-Jandiala-Nurmahal-Talwan road, on which work had commenced.
Former Minister Gurjit Singh sought a special package for the Doaba region, urging the Chief Minister to get the Bist Doab canal concrete lining project worth Rs 150 crore completed to facilitate the farming community, and to save depleting ground water.
He also sought setting up of a medical college in the Doaba region to impart quality health services to the people.
Earlier, Laddi demanded setting up of a potato processing unit near Malsian to boost the interests of the potato farmers.
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Jhansi fire: Nurse's heroic efforts helped save over dozen babies
Lucknow/Jhansi (UP), Nov 17: Nurse Megha James was on duty when the fire broke out at the Jhansi hospital and she threw herself headlong into the rescue efforts, playing a hero's role by saving several babies.
Even when her salwar got burned, she refused to give up and was able to evacuate 14-15 babies with others' help.
"I had gone to take a syringe to give an injection to a child. When I came back, I saw that the (oxygen) concentrator had caught fire. I called the ward boy, who came with the fire extinguisher and tried to put it out. But by then, the fire had spread," James said.
Ten babies perished in a fire that broke out at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Jhansi Friday night.
Faced with an enormous blaze, James's mind worked with a frenetic speed, to the extent she cared little about burning herself.
"My chappal caught fire and I burned my foot. Then my salwar caught fire. I removed my salwar and discarded it. At that time, my mind was virtually not working," she told PTI Videos.
James just wore another salwar and went back to the rescue operation.
"There was a lot of smoke, and once the lights went out, we could not see anything. The entire staff brought out at least 14-15 children. There were 11 beds in the ward with 23-24 babies," she said.
Had the lights not gone out they could have saved more children, James said. "It all happened very suddenly. None of us had expected it."
Assistant Nursing Superintendent Nalini Sood praised James's valour and recounted bits from how the rescue operation was carried out.
"The hospital staff broke the glasses of the NICU ward to evacuate the babies. It was then Nurse Megha's salwar caught fire. Instead of caring for her safety, she stayed there to rescue the babies and handed them over to people outside," she said.
Sood said James is currently undergoing treatment at the same medical college. She said she did not know the extent of her burns.
"The rescued babies were shifted to a ward very close to the NICU ward… When I recall the scene, I feel like crying," she said.
Dr Anshul Jain, the head of the anaesthesiology department at the medical college, explained the standard rescue operation and claimed the hospital followed the protocol to the T.
"In the triage process during an ICU evacuation, the policy is to evacuate less-affected patients first. The rationale behind this approach is that patients requiring minimal support can be relocated quickly, enabling a larger number of evacuations to be completed in a shorter time.
"In contrast, patients on ventilators or requiring high oxygen support demand more time and resources for evacuation," he said.
"This principle was successfully implemented in Jhansi, playing a significant role in saving many lives," Jain said.
A newborn rescued from the fire died due to illness on Sunday, Jhansi District Magistrate Avinash Kumar said.
