Kapurthala, October 29
Once every year, the sleepy town of Kapurthala wakes up to music. The roads get decked to welcome government officers who throng the heritage festival celebrations with abundant zest, the buildings are generously illuminated and arms flung open in affection.

For a while, the city is thrown headlong into action that is marked, among other things, by elaborate felicitations, visits by ministers and appearances by royalty. Among those who make themselves comfortable in the sprawling lawns of Jagatjit Palace, the festival venue, there are some who come only to catch a glimpse of Maharaja Sukhjit Singh, who is always present at festival time, as he heads the Kapurthala Heritage Trust. The course of events at the festival is, thus, almost always predictable.

This season is no different expect that it has larger visitation than the previous years. Inaugurated day before yesterday, the celebrations picked up momentum last night with two great musicians gracing the space of performance. In attendance were Pt Channu Lal Mishra, the inimitable singer of Banaras style and Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma, the quintessential charmer whose melodies get younger with years.

Nursed in diverse cultural settings though, the performers exhibited similar traits. Both approached the audiences with care, both explained what they were going to play or sing. Pt Mishra’s presentation was pleasurable in that he held the audience by the hand and led them through the alleyways of classical music, considered hard to comprehend.

Under his care complex notes sounded simple. He started with a 10-minute “chhota Khayal” which he interspersed with references to Banaras tradition, making his song attractive to a layman. “Bana-ras is where the charms of music never die,” he said, after explaining the meaning of seven notes that make a melody. “Our music begins with “Sa”, which represents the “sa-kar” (physical) form of God. It ends with “Ni”, which signifies the same God’s “ni-rakar” (formless) being. Music is thus a way to transcend the peaks of spiritualism from “Sa” to “Ni”,” he said.

Earlier, Pt Sharma also made a simple but splendid presentation. Known for communicating with his audience, the legendary santoor player used his tongs as words to speak the language of music. Before making a presentation, he explained what its structure would look like. He began with rag “Jhinjoti” to set the mood for the day. Pt Sharma’s recital was further embellished by the accompaniment of Bhavani Shanker on pakhawaj and Yogesh Samsi on tabla.

Where Shanker is among the finest pahkawaj players of India, Samsi has been trained tabla by the legendary Allarakha Khan. The virtuosity of both was there for all to savour. The best part of the presentation was the freedom Pt Sharma allowed his accompanists. He treated them as equals, challenging them to match his talents. The accompanists heartily obliged and the performance gained in the bargain. It reached its zenith when Pt Sharma wrapped up with a composition from Yash Chopra’s “Silsiley”, in which he had teamed up with Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia to make music.

The melody, rendered in raag Pahari, was “Sar se sarke sarke chunariya…”

Lidran (Jalandhar), October 29
As if one mishap that struck Lidran village a few days back was not enough, another sewage pond that touches one of the edges of Government High School here has proved to be a major threat.

The pond into which flows the sewage from nearly 1,000 households is not just causing environmental problems but has also resulted in damage of two rooms of the school that had to be closed. The rooms developed cracks in walls and floor.

A canteen and science laboratory that was housed in these rooms has been shifted.

Since the past few months, the level of pond has risen and the new science laboratory and computer room that fall ahead of these two rooms are also partly getting damaged due to dampness in floor and walls.

Students said the pond emanated a foul stench at times and they found it impossible to attend their practical classes.

The school has recently availed a grant under the Sarv Sikhya Abhiyan for the construction of new classrooms on the same side. The students and staff now apprehend that in case the level of pond would rise further and it came closer, the new rooms too could get damaged.

Not just that, a water pump too has started giving contaminated water, posing health hazards for 200-plus students.

But the school authorities got the pump closed and another deep bore well has now been dug up on the other side with the help of donations.

A school stage and a ground meant for holding functions too fall on the same edge outside the school boundary right on the banks of the ponds, thereby proving to be quite risky. The pond is also a breeding ground for mosquitoes, becoming a risk factor for causing spread of dengue and malaria.

The staff, students and villagers said they had made several representations to the panchayat, the administration and the Minister of Local Bodies, Chaudhary Jagjit Singh, in this regard. They said they had told them that new private colonies coming up near the pond were responsible for rise in its level as these too were discharging their waste into it.

Interestingly, a Suvidha camp for the villagers was held on the school premises on October 14 during which staff and students demanded a remedial measures. But despite assurances, nothing seems in site as yet.

Ms Jasvir Kaur, sarpanch, said she too had been pursuing the case. She said a grant to the tune of Rs 1 lakh for cleaning up the other pond from which the body of a man had been fished out the other day was also awaited.

Jalandhar, October 29
A large number of devotees, especially from Bihar, assembled on the banks of rivers and sarovars to perform Chhat puja, the worship of the sun god, this morning.

In Jalandhar, special ceremonies were performed last evening and this morning at Devi Talab Mandir and on the banks of a canal on the Kapurthala road, near Basti Danish Manda, where thousands of worshippers descended to offer prayers.

They performed a number of ceremonies, thus polluting the water bodies. Devotees offered flowers and puja material to the sun god. Flowers, fruits, grains, diyas and havan material were seen floating on the sarovar water.

Similarly, in Amritsar devotees performed puja in the sarovar of Durgiana Temple, while in Rahon the puja was performed on the banks of the Sutlej.

Environmentalists say immersing puja material is not a healthy practice as it not only pollutes the water body but also threatens the existence of aquatic organisms.

Since the puja material contains starchy items, it results in pollution and growth of micro-organisms in the water. It depletes the dissolved oxygen in the water, suffocating organisms. Offered food enables the growth of parasites that are one of the main causes of death of fish.

Environmentalists say rivers in the state are already highly polluted due to sewage, factory wastes and other chemicals.

A report prepared by the council, “A State of Environment — 2005”, says the Sutlej is the most polluted river. Toxic levels are high at Nangal, Kiratpur Sahib, Ropar, Ludhiana and Gidderpindi village. The report says the river from Ludhiana to Harike has been identified as the most polluted stretch. Two municipal corporations (Ludhiana and Jalandhar) and 27 municipal councils and notified area committees are discharging municipal wastes directly or indirectly into the river.

So spare a thought for the environment and think before immersing toxic material into the water bodies. 

Jalandhar, October 29
The department of biotechnology, Lyallpur Khalsa College, organised a lecture on transgenic crops yesterday. Dr Prabhjeet Singh, a former head, Department of Biotechnology, Guru Nanak Dev University, discussed the role of genetic engineering in making transgenic crops and plants. — TNS

Nawanshahr, October 29
The Snehi Sankirtan Mandal in association with Dr J.S. Sandhu and Dr Gurjit  Kaur Sandhu organised a free medical check-up camp at Snehi Mandir here today. More than 100 patients were examined.

Hoshiarpur, October 29
A peculiar situation arose when the safety alarm of the State Bank of India branch near the bus stand went off suddenly this evening.

On listening noise of the hooter, residents of the area assembled. The police also reached there. During checking it was found that due to short-circuit in wires the hooter went off.