M A I N   N E W S

Governorship for SAD leader?
From Varinder Walia
Tribune News Service

LOPOKE (Amritsar), Sept 30 — Even as the Shiromani Akali Dal has failed to retain Udham Singh Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, it has been trying to have one of its senior leaders as Governor of the newly created hill state of Uttaranchal to overlook the interests of Punjabis there.

Talking to TNS in this border town here today, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said we would take up the matter with the Central Government in this regard. He said at one time Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Secretary-General SAD, was tipped for governorship of Rajasthan after the death of Mr Darbara Singh. However, (Mr Dhindsa) was inducted into the Union Cabinet.

Replying a question, Mr Badal said Punjab had not a drop of surplus water and, hence, the controversial Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal (SYL) could not be completed. He said the SAD would get its due share in the inter-state waters, come what may.

He said it was Congress Chief Minister Darbara Singh who had withdrawn the case of riverwaters from the Supreme Court in 1982 at the behest of the then Prime Minister.

He said his government would make all efforts to get its due share in the waters in an amicable manner. He said his party would continue to fight for inclusion of Chandigarh and other Punjabi-speaking areas into Punjab.

Mr Badal, who came here to attend the engagement ceremony of Mr Veer Singh Lopoke’s son, looked tired due to hectic campaigning in the Sunam byelection. Mr Badal said the SAD would win the seat with a comfortable margin.

The Chief Minister said he had directed officials of procurement agencies to ensure that farmers did not resort to distress sale of paddy. He said the main problem was that of plenty. Once there was sufficient space for stacking farmers’ produce, the problem would disappear. He claimed the Punjab Government would construct sufficient godowns for storage of paddy and wheat before the next harvesting season so that the farmers were not forced to resort to distress sale of their produce.

Replying yet another question, Mr Badal said the inauguration of Ranjit Sagar Dam would be delayed for some time due to knee replacement of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. He said Mr Vajpayee would dedicate the dam before the end of the year.

Mr Badal ruled out the possibility of a Cabinet expansion in the near future.

The Chief Minister said his government had chalked out an ambitious plan for remodelling the Uppar Bari Doab Canal (UBDC) which would ensure adequate irrigation water to farmers of the Majha region. He said work on country’s biggest oil refinery in Bathinda district would be completed on a war-footing.