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Forest officials seize contraband timber
Sultanpur Lodhi roads in bad shape
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Youth ‘kidnapped,’ jumps out of car
RCF to make coaches for Senegal
AIDS awareness need of the hour, say experts
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Forest officials seize contraband timber
Dasuya (Hoshiarpur),
November 27 With the seizure of over 150 quintals of khair wood worth Rs 5.50 lakh and impounding of four trucks, the forest officials claim to have unearthed the racket involving khair timber smuggling that has not only been causing huge losses to the state exchequer but has also been violating the Indian Forest Act with impunity for the last many years. Sources in the Forest Department revealed that four truckloads of timber, including “shesham”, mango, mulberry and blackberry wood logs, were confiscated by a team of forest officials. The timber was being smuggled from forests on the boarder areas of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh by the timber mafia. Acting on a tip-off, Mr Amit Mishra, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Dasuya, laid a trap at an octroi post on the Dasuya-Hazipur road and seized three truckloads of wood. After a search, the officials of the Forest Department recovered about 100 quintals of khair wood in a truck (PB-08S-1763), while two other trucks (PB-10L-9760 and PB-07P-8911) were loaded with logs of “shesham”, mango, mulberry and blackberry. After two days of this seizure, Mr Mishra again received secret information about the smuggling of khair wood by the mafia, following which the forest officials again laid a trap. A truck (DL-1CA-8445) transporting about 50 quintals of khair logs worth Rs 1.50 lakh was impounded. This is a major seizure of smuggled timber and khair wood by the divisional forest officials in the last one decade. Talking to The Tribune, Mr Mishra claimed that the truck drivers had fled from the spot leaving behind the vehicles. The driver of a truck (DL-1CA-8445) had even rammed into a house while speeding away when the forest officials signalled him to stop at Chakmirkur village near Talwara. Mr Mishra claimed that about 40 quintals of khair wood worth lakhs of rupees had also been confiscated from a timber dump owned by one Pritam Singh in Chakmirpur. He also revealed that following a tip-off about khair wood being illegally dumped at a timber dump in Nangal, a raid was conducted but it proved futile. Mr Mishra admitted that the timber mafia was enjoying political patronage, and it was smuggling wood to Gurgaon, Sonepat, Panipat and other cities. He added, “I think there is involvement of certain bigwigs in the inter-state timber mafia.” The guilty would not be spared, he warned.
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Sultanpur Lodhi roads in bad shape
Sultanpur Lodhi (Kapurthala), November 27 The manager of Gurdwara Sri Ber Sahib, Mr Partap Singh, says, “The road connecting the two historical towns — Sultanpur Lodhi and Goindwal Sahib — is in a bad shape due to neglect by successive state governments.” Last year, Sant Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal, a social reformer and environmentalist, had repaired this road along with his followers. But without any upkeep, the potholes reappeared. The environmentalist again tried to fill the potholes, but it was not enough. A patch of land, 200 metres wide, leading to Gurdwara Dalla Sahib was left unattended due to some objection from the land owner at the time of laying of the road. But that was five years ago, and the officials concerned did not bother to complete the road even after the dispute had been sorted out. Here too, the help from Baba Seechewal came in handy, as he along with his disciples, filled the road with soil to make it temporarily motorable. The road to Shatabgarh village is potholed every inch. Similarly, the one leading to Karamjitpur village, six km from here, is turning into a hurdle racetrack. Meanwhile, Kapurthala’s Deputy Commissioner Samir Kumar has ordered an enquiry into the quality of the material used in the construction of the road leading to Tibba from Talwandi Chowdhrian, and its subsequent repair in 2001. Mr Niranjan Singh, one of the complainants to the Deputy Commissioner, has alleged that substandard material was used in the construction and the repair of the road. In his complaint, he said the road was laid in 2001, but was damaged completely by 2003, and there had been no repair work ever since. According to PWD officials, the 5.37 km stretch was repaired in 2001, but they could not take up the repair work again since the road fell in the jurisdiction of the District Mandi Board. The PWD at present is busy repairing roads which have not been repaired since 1997. The department had also sent a request to NABARD to release an amount of Rs 1.18 crore for widening and strengthening of this road, which the bank rejected saying that it did not finance link roads. “We have again presented our case under the NABARD (11-1) scheme,” a PWD official said.
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Youth ‘kidnapped,’ jumps out of car
Jalandhar, November 27 But, he said, he somehow managed to safely jump out of the moving vehicle and escape from the clutches of the kidnappers. In a complaint filed at Police Division No. 1, Rajesh Dhingra, a resident of Bhagwandasspura, said the incident occurred when three scooter-borne unidentified persons signalled him to stop near Vassal Hospital here. After he stopped the Maruti Zen he was driving, the men said they were policemen and wanted to enquire about some incident. Then one of the three, who was wearing a turban, took out a pistol, and with the help of his companions forced Rajesh into the rear seat of the car and drove the car towards the Kapurthala Road. In the meantime, the ‘kidnappers’ allegedly forced Rajesh Dhingra to part with his mobile, a gold chain, a gold bangle and his wallet containing Rs 4000 in cash. Rajesh alleged that the ‘kidnappers’ had even got the car refilled on the way. He, however, managed to jump out of the moving vehicle somewhere on the Kapurthala-Kartarpur Road. The complaint mentions that the ‘kidnappers’ also fired some gunshots after the victim jumped out of the car. The police has registered a case under Sections 382, 341 of the IPC and Sections 25,54 and 59 of the Arms Act.
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RCF to make coaches for Senegal
Kapurthala, November 27 The saloon was proposed to be used by the President of Senegal, said official sources. A fully-furnished Alstom-LHB, an AC 3-tier coach, a conventional air-conditioned coach, an SLR coach and the saloon being used by the RCF’s general manager were shown to the Senegalese delegation. The delegation was also explained the concept of the twin-coach saloon in which a fully-equipped office proposed to be used by the President. The saloon would also have a kitchen.
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AIDS awareness need of the hour, say experts
Phagwara, November 27 At a seminar-cum-exhibition on AIDS awareness organised here today, experts urged people to take steps to prevent the spread of the disease. “India will become the global capital of AIDS in the next five years if remedial measures
are not taken,” said social activist, Dr N. S. Bawa, from Bassi Pathana, who had organised the
seminar.
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