Bathinda, April 20
Courtesy the apathy of the municipal corporation, the residents of the Shiv Colony here are leading a miserable life.

The uncovered and ‘unwanted’ sewerage sump at the centre of the residential colony – ‘popularly’ called as black spot on the map of the colony by the inhabitants – is now posing serious health hazards to the people living in the area.

After receiving a number of complaints from the residents of the colony, the TNS team today visited the locality. The team found that the municipal corporation had constructed a sump in street number 1 of the colony for drainage purposes.

It has been reported that the garbage in the open drains flows to the so-called sump, from where the accumulated sewerage is transferred to a manhole line through a motor pump. But during this process, it spreads a foul smell and the stench becomes unbearable for people living in the area. Moreover, it has become a breeding ground for mosquitos and a major cause for diseases leading to serious health hazards.

Narrating their plight, Vijay Kumar, who resides in a house just adjoining the sump said, “Due to this, mosquitoes invade our house in large numbers making it difficult to sit or sleep.”

Bhim Sen, whose house is opposite the sump, said, “My wife has been suffering from heart problem. The heart specialists in Ludhiana, after coming to know about the location of the house, declared this sump to be the reason for her disease.” “The sewage lying in this sump causes a foul smell, which we are forced to inhale and it is resulting in the deterioration of her health,” he added.

“When the motor pump is run, we close all the doors of our house. Moreover, due to that foul smell, we do not even use coolers,” lamented Varinder Kumar, a colony resident.

The residents alleged that despite proper an underground drainage system, officials of the municipal corporation, even after receiving a number of complaints, did not pay attention and the sump was not connected properly to the open drains and the underground sewer lines.

Executive officer of the corporation, Kamal Kant, said, “I will look into the matter and try my best to remove the nuisance generated through the sump. Fogging would also be ordered within two days.”

Ferozepur, April 20
The Punjab government has embarked on a proposal to establish a massive museum with facilities like light and sound show at the national martyrs’ memorial, Hussaniwala, so that the sacrifice of the great sons of soil, like Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, continue to inspire the future generations. This was stated by Tikshan Sood, minister for parliamentary affairs medical, education and research, forests and wildlife preservation, while talking to media persons after paying floral tributes at the memorial here today.

Sood said the memorial would be developed as a centre of tourist attraction for lakhs of visitors who come to witness the retreat drill at the Indo-Pak joint check-post and pay respects at the memorial.

He informed that the state government has already sanctioned Rs 1 crore for the beautification and development of the memorial, under which tourist huts would be constructed so that the visitors have a comfortable stay. He also instructed the authorities to plant herbal and ornamental shrubs near the memorial.

Sood was accompanied by irrigation minister Janmeja Singh Sekhon, chief parliamentary secretary (revenue) Sukhpal Singh Nannu, BJP general secretary Kamal Sharma and D.P. Chandan, besides a galaxy of senior SAD-BJP functionaries and officials from various departments, including DC Megh Raj and SSP Dinesh Pratap.

Sood further said the state government was making concerted efforts to bring more area under forestation for which several new schemes were being worked out.

The forest minister said saplings and trees were being planted at various locations like schools, panchayat and government lands and other vacant pockets so as to improve the ecology of the region. With the help of the Centre, the government had also started the bamboo mission, he informed, adding that trees were being planted in areas that faced the problem of waterlogging.

About medical education and research, Sood averred that to provide for better medical education, the state government has provided for Rs 140 crores.

He informed that an amount of Rs 69 crore would be spent on the construction of a new campus for Baba Farid Medical University, Faridkot, and that Rs 8 crore was being spent on the extension of Government Medical College, Patiala.

The minister said the retirement age of professors of medical colleges was being increased to 65 years. Besides, the government was exploring options for retaining the retired faculty so as to overcome staff shortage.

Bathinda, April 20
Taking a serious notice of the statements issued by the four Congress MLAs belonging to the Amarinder Singh faction against party spokesman 
Bir Devinder Singh in Bathinda, the disciplinary committee of the Punjab Congress 
today issued a seven day 
time-bound show-cause notice to them.

Giving details, chairman, disciplinary committee, G.K. Chatrath said over the phone that he had served a show-cause notice to Jeet Mohinder Singh, MLA Talwandi Sabo, Makhan Singh, MLA Pakkan Kalan, Ajaib Singh Bhatti, MLA Nathana and Gurpreet Singh Kangar, MLA Rampura Phul, through registered post on Saturday. About the reason why the notice had been served, he said they had spoken at length against Bir Devinder Singh, PPCC spokesman, in which they had levelled serious allegations against him.

“I have mentioned in the notice that they had already been warned and if they wanted to resolve differences with anyone in the party, they should do it at the party level only. But overruling the instruction, they went to the media without permission. Now, they have been given a week’s time, from the date the notice has been issued, to file their reply,” Chatrath further said.

It may be recalled that reacting to the statements made by Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) spokesman Bir Devinder Singh, in which he had criticised Capt Amarinder Singh’s verbal attack on PPCC chief Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, the MLAs had on April 18 condemned it as “unwarranted and irrational”.

Taking Bir Devinder Singh to task, Makhan Singh, MLA Pakkan Kalan, Ajaib Singh Bhatti, MLA Nathana and Gurpreet Singh Kangar MLA Rampura Phul had levelled many allegations against Singh in a press release. They had also accused him of enjoying close proximity to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

Bathinda, April 20
The proposal to establish a separate ayurvedic university in Punjab is awaiting green signal from the state cabinet.

Minister for medical education, Tikshan Sood, told the TNS here today that the detailed proposal for setting up the university had been prepared for being listed in the cabinet agenda.

He said that a piece of land for this purpose has been identified in the foothills of the Himalayan range in Hoshiarpur. Ayurveda and other indigenous systems of medicine will be de-linked from the Faridkot- based Baba Farid University of Medical Sciences and assigned to the ayurvedic university. The Baba Farid University will thereafter deal only with the allopathic system of medicine.

He said that chief minister Parkash Singh Badal has personally approved the idea of setting up the university, but the seal of the cabinet was necessary for the purpose.

Sood said that the draft Act of the proposed university had also been prepared in consultation with the law department and other agencies.

He said that setting up ayurvedic universities in all BJP ruled states of the country was the policy of the party. The idea to set up the university here was mooted, as BJP was a partner of the ruling coalition in Punjab.

Sood said that the proposed university would control not only the existing governmental and private ayurvedic institutions, but would also give a push to the ancient system of medicine in a big way. Punjab has the potential of being developed as an important destination for ayurvedic tourism. The university would also promote Homoeopathic and Unani systems of medicine.

Expressing concern over the continuing shortage of teaching faculty in the three medical colleges of the state government, he said that steps were being taken to meet the challenge. He appreciated the privately- run institutions were supporting the medical requirements in the state.

Abohar, April 20
The chairman of the Railway Board had reportedly assured members of the Parliament that construction of the 42-km long Abohar-Fazilka rail line would be completed by April 2009. However, ground realities here do not support this view.

The TNS team found only five daily wage earners assisting a tractor driver in levelling the stone chips in a small part of the earthen bed in between villages Dangarkhera and Choohriwala Dhanna. The stone chips were to be laid in the second phase. The construction of the bridge on the sub- canal besides earthen bed on the other side of the Abohar-Fazilka road (NH-10) is yet to begin. However, the construction between Abohar-Malout road and Seetogunno road rail crossing has been completed and stone chips are being stacked for the next phase of work. Here too, a handful of workers were found strengthening the earthen bed.

Hanuman Dass Goyal, joint secretary of the North Zone Railway Passengers Association, said that the NGO had approached UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi last month to acquaint her about the slow pace of work. She was told that Ram Vilas Paswan, as railway minister, had first released Rs 32 crore for this project in 1997 in the supplementary budget. Later, SAD (B) chief Parkash Singh Badal invited the then railway minister Nitish Kumar to lay its foundation stone in 2002 to derive political mileage but efforts made by Lalu Prasad Yadav actually put the project on track in 2004, who directed the authorities to complete the work by April 2009.

On the intervention of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Rs 30 crore was allocated for this financial year, Goyal said. Delay in implementation had increased the estimated cost from Rs 167 to Rs 200 crore, he added.

When contacted, B.K. Garg, project in-charge, said work on 65 out of 108 reaches had almost been completed. The construction of most small and large bridges was in progress.

"A major drawback was that the Punjab government hadn't so far transferred the physical possession of its seed farm land that involved construction of a three kilometre stretch near Abohar town", he confirmed.

Other sources said the former tenants of the government seed farm were living on false hope. CM Parkash Singh Badal had in January last year announced during an election rally here that the tenants would be given property rights, which would entitle them for compensation. The tenants had long back lost the legal battle against their dispossession from the land.

Their representatives were taken to the Chief Minister's house and again assured that Rs1 lakh per acre would be paid as compensation. They deferred the agitation against the construction of the earthen bed for the rail link but till today, neither the authorities have transferred the possession to the railways nor paid any compensation to the former tenants, sources added.

In such circumstances, will the two decad old dreams regarding the completion of the project would be fulfilled by next year is a billion rupee question!

Ferozepur, April 20
A PUNSUP inspector has been suspended for dereliction of duty and licences of 15 commission agents have been cancelled due to various irregularities during the ongoing procurement process. This was informed by irrigation minister Janmeja Singh Sekhon after he visited various grain markets in the district today. He was accompanied by DC Megh Raj, ADC Jaskaran Singh and SSP D.P. Singh.

Sekhon, who was talking to media persons at the PWD rest-house this morning, informed that till date, various procurement agencies had purchased 3,54,661 MT wheat from the grain markets in the district against which all payments had also been made. He warned that corrupt practices in grain procurement would not be tolerated.

Sekhon also urged the farmers against giving money to any official for whatsoever reason. And in case of any problem, they should report the matter to the SDM or DC concerned, he added.

Bathinda, April 20
At the time when the arrival of wheat in markets all over the state is at its peak, the Bathinda Grain Market gives the look of a parking lot for trucks and buses. Not only this, there is no provision for clean drinking water, toilet and other basic amenities for the farmers.

When The Tribune team visited the grain market, it found no boundary wall, entry and exit gates. That is why, stray animals were seen grazing on wheat crop.

Farmers also rued that there is no night watchman in the market, ceiling of storage sheds is also broken at many places, which can damage the crop in case of a rainfall. Buses were also seen parked in the market and mechanics were seen repairing them.

Rattan Singh of Narruana village said, “My wheat is lying here for the last few days. Due to the shortage of labour and absence of procurement agencies, all farmers are suffering. Only the PUNSUP is procuring the wheat and that also at a very slow pace. The truck union here is causing lots of problem for us as we are forced to keep our produce on the road. The market is for farmers and not for trucks.”

Sukhdev Singh of Bir Behman village, who was sitting in the market with 280 quintals of his produce and waiting for the procurement agencies to buy his produce, rued that stray animals graze here the whole day. “Even some shops of building material have kept the iron bars in open, encroaching upon the market land.”

Satish Kumar, president, Arhtiya Association, Bathinda, said, “These vehicles remain parked under the shed all year around and create problems in every season. We have written to the secretary (market committee) in this regard, but no steps have been taken so far.”

Amarjit Singh, secretary, Market Committee, Bathinda, said, “We have written to the District Transport Officer (DTO) for taking action against the trucks and other vehicles belonging to the truck union in the grain market.”

When DTO, Manish Kumar, was contacted, he said, “Till date, I have not received any official complaint in this regard. I will immediately depute my officers to look into the matter and action will be taken against them in accordance with the law.”

Deputy Commissioner Rahul Tewari said, “I will look into the matter and action will be taken against the defaulters.”

Abohar, April 20
In a strategic move which may leave its arch-rival, the Congress, trailing in the Balluana Assembly segment, the Shiromani Akali Dal (B) has finalised two women candidates for the upcoming Zila Parishad elections. Both are daughters of senior political functionaries.

Balluana MLA Gurtej Singh Ghuriana confirmed today that during two separate workers’ meetings at village Gobindgarh and Seetogunno held recently, unanimity emerged over the candidature of Ravinder Kaur, daughter of former Punjab education minister and four-time MLA Sukhjinder Singh, and Vijay Luxmi Bishnoi, daughter of Ram Narain Bishnoi, deputy speaker of Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha.

“Though a formal announcement is yet to be made by party president Sukhbir Singh Badal, but the workers have overwhelmingly welcomed the selection. The SAD (B) will maintain transparency in choosing the candidates,” he added.

According to information gathered by TNS, Ravinder Kaur is married to Gurkirpal Singh, sarpanch of Gobindgarh village, better known as Gurki. He had been an active Congress worker for the past many years but had to switch over to the SAD (B) due to alleged differences with the then Congress legislator Parkash Singh Bhatti in the Balluana area during the last Vidhan Sabha elections.

Vijay Luxmi Bishnoi is the sarpanch of Dutaranwali village. In the previous term, her husband, Radha Krishan, was the sarpanch of the village. Her father Ram Narain Bishnoi was elected to the Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha from Phalaudi constituency for fourth term. Her in-laws have a strong hold in the belt hat comes under the wildlife sanctuary.

Interestingly, the Congress is yet to organise its workers’ meetings in the Balluana segment.

Bathinda, April 20
Tushar Memorial College of Music and Dance, Bathinda, held its 3rd annual function at the Civil Lines Club here. The musical soiree had flavours from both the Punjabi milieu and traditional Indian classical music.

Patiala’s Kumari Bhairavi struck magic on ‘sarangi’, while Tejinder Pal Singh’s Raga ‘Basant’ mesmerised the audience. The other performances like raga ‘Yaman’ by Prem Mangal, raga Malkaus by Arvinder, raga ‘Bhopali’ by Sandeep and raga Megh by Anmol Preet Ghaniya were also laudable.

Dances were also a delectable affair. Ayesha presented kathak, while Surabhi and party and Vijay and party, presented western dances. Sohaj Preet and party, and Kamal and his friends performed Bhangra.

Earlier, Indore Gharana’s R.S.Visht and Delhi Gharana’s Krishna Visht inaugurated the function by lighting the lamp. The show was compered by Sudesh Anand, while college’s principal Davinder Bhatt and industrialist Rajinder Mittal were also present on the occasion.

Bathinda, April 20
Twenty persons ended their lives in the city in the last three months. Contrary to the expectations of medical men and sociologists that the number of those opting for death in place of life would drop this year, there is no indication of that happening yet.

“We were hoping that the suicides figures would be less this year but a spate of suicides during the last one month has got us worried. Last year, most of the suicides happened in June and July, but this year, most such incidents happened in March,” said J.M. James, head of the department of psychiatry, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, who recently completed a survey on suicides in the city.

In March, 18 persons attempted suicide and seven of them died. Last year, the figure of suicide cases was around 100 and in 2006, it was 140. However, the registered cases in police stations with regard to suicide cases were less than this figure, because in some cases, the family members did not inform the police about such incidents, he said.

Weather too plays its part in some way, doctors felt. Farmers losing their crop to the vagaries of weather god, tends to make an already depressed person peevish and irritable.

Dr James, who is also the coordinator of Helpline, an NGO working in this direction, said that 85 per cent suicides have happened due to depression, relating to brain disorder and mental stress. Drug addiction, mental illness and incompatibility among couples and their families were the other reason behind the suicide incidents.

“Most of the victims belong to colonies in the city. People come to the city with a lot of hope and expectations, from different parts of the state. But after some time, they find themselves helpless, alone and no one to look forward to for help. In such a scenario, they find suicide as an easy way out to escape from the problems,” James added.

Bathinda, April 20
In a shocking incident, Parminder Kaur, 27, the daughter of sub-inspector Ranjit Singh, in-charge CIA, allegedly ended her life by consuming some poisonous substance at Bhucho Mandi near here today. The deceased is survived by her husband and one-year old son.

Sources said Parminder was married two years back at Bhucho, but her husband had died in a road mishap just a few days after their marriage. She was then remarried to her brother-in-law Gurdeep Singh. It is also reported that there was some domestic dispute between the couple.

Parminder, sources said, consumed poison in the afternoon and was rushed to a private hospital in Bathinda from where she was referred to the Civil Hospital.

In-charge, Bhucho police post, said, “The postmortem will be conducted on Monday. Investigations are on but the statements of the family members have not yet been recorded.”

Abohar, April 20
Seven persons, including an Abohar resident, were killed and eight injured, five of them seriously, in a road mishap early this morning near Loonkaransar town on the NH-15, in the neighbouring area of Rajasthan, police sources said. The victims included a newly-wed girl. The groom was also among those seriously injured.

According to the information received here, 16 persons, including two newly-wed couples along with their relatives, were coming in a jeep to 15 GB village of Vijaynagar in Sriganganagar from Samandsar village of Dungargarh area to perform the first ceremony after the marriage at the bride’s parents’ house.

The jeep bearing registration number, RJ19C9269, reportedly collided head-on with a truck bearing the number, RJ7G6968 at about 6.30 am between Loonkaransar-Mahajan towns. The collision resulted in the death of newly-wed Chanderkala of Samandsar, Subhash Chander (20) of Seetogunno village of Abohar, Renu and Saroj of Bala Rajpura in Padampur, Asa Ram of Samandsar, Maya Devi of Padampur and Radhey Shyam of village 15 GB.

Newly-wed grooms, Ridhkiran and Mukh Ram, and a close relative Raghu Ram were among the seriously injured, who have been referred to the Bikaner hospital.

Eight persons had yesterday died in the same area in a mishap.

In another mishap, Dilbagh Singh of Chak Janisar village, located on the Abohar-Jalalabad west road, lost his life. He had reportedly gone to his friend Manjit Singh at village Dalianwala near Sriganganagar as both of them were doing the same business of reassembling tape recorders after purchasing spare parts from New Delhi.

They were to board a train from Hanumangarh, but got late and reportedly informed their parents on cell phones that they were going to Sangaria by a motorcycle to catch the same train. However, the motorcycle was reportedly hit by a tractor-trailer near Manaksar village. Dilbagh Singh died on the spot. Manjit Singh was rushed to Jaipur in a critical condition, sources said.

In another mishap last night near Sangaria, a young trader of Jalalabad west was killed, while his friend, a resident of Sriganganagar, who was riding the pillion, was critically injured, sources added.

Ferozepur, April 20
Shaheed Bhagat Singh College of Engineering and Technology, Ferozepur, celebrated its two-day annual cultural festival, “JASHAN-2008”, which concluded here Friday amidst lot of enthusiasm and fanfare. The event, which encompassed various cultural and literary events, was organised by the Society for Extra-Curricular Activities (SECA) of the college.

On the occasion, H.B. Sharda, principal, emphasised upon the need for participating in extra-curricular activities for comprehensive growth and personality development. The fest included various events such as solo dance, group dance, youth parliament, debate, group discussion, antakshari and press conference.

At the concluding ceremony, a glittering cultural night was held which included scintillating folk dance performances by college girls and theme shows prepared by the students. The main attraction of the concluding function was “Roadies” event wherein Mr Jashan and Miss Jashan were crowned.

Vivek Muskan, a student of the final year mechanical engineering, bagged Mr Jashan crown and Shama, of final year electronics stream, was crowned Miss Jashan.

Dr A.K. Tyagi distributed the awards to the winning teams and participants. While congratulating the winners, Dr Tyagi said that the event had acted as a stimulant in mobilising the hidden creativity of students and bringing it out on the stage. Speaking on the occasion, SECA chairman, S.K. Kazal highlighted the fact that when students organise such activities, it greatly helped in developing interpersonal and managerial skills. In the end, the college boys performed ‘Malwai Gidda’ which evoked a tremendous response from the audience.

Abohar, April 20
Expressing anguish over the indifferent attitude of the administration to their long-pending demand regarding the shifting of liquor vends, hundreds of daily wage earners and farmers gheraoed these vends at the new grain market on Saturday.

The protesters, including women, were led by Thakur Dass Siwan, state vice-president of the Rashtriya Dhanak Samaj. They raised slogans against the government besides the divisional excise and taxation commissioner (DETC) and local officials.

Each evening, before leaving for their respective homes, daily wage earners were allegedly lured to empty their pockets at the liquor vends. They then created nuisance for the women who used to pass through the road where the liquor shops were located, they alleged.

Such an atmosphere also had bad effects on the minds of children, the protestors rued.

Siwan and other speakers further alleged that the administration had ignored the warning given during the state-level conference of the Dhanak community held under the BJP banner here last month in this regard. They had sent scores of letters to the officials, including the DETC and the deputy commissioner, but none responded.

The protesters warned that an agitation would be launched if the officials continued to succumb to the alleged pressure from the liquor syndicate.

Many unauthorised ‘ahatas’ (taverns) were also functioning in the residential colonies besides the main roads, they alleged.

The gherao was called off when a senior police official assured of taking up the matter with the district officers.

Mansa, April 20
A meeting of different trade unions was held at the Baba Buja Singh Bhawan here today to prepare for the May Day function, which would be organised at Maal Godam here in favour of the demands of labourers and employees.

The slogan of this May Day function will be, “Stop rising prices and increase minimum wages of workers.’

At today’s meeting, Gurtej Singh Musha from the electricity employees Union, Vasdev Garg from the medical union, Ruldu Singh from the Punjab Kisan Union, Jaspal Singh Kokhar and Sikander Dhaliwal from the Democratic Employees Front, were present. The meeting was held under the presidentship of Rajvinder Singh Rana. The AICCTU would lead these organisations. — OC