The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Himachal Pradesh Edition

Minister warns polluters
Rajay Deep
Tribune News Service

Panchayat members take oath at grain market in Bathinda on Friday.
Panchayat members take oath at grain market in Bathinda on Friday. Tribune photo: Malkiat Singh

Bathinda, July 11
“Industries found guilty of polluting water in the canals would be closed down,” warned Punjab environment minister Bikram Singh Majithia while speaking in the context of pollution in Ludhiana’s Budha Nullah.

Majithia was here to preside over the oath-taking ceremony of 2,469 panches of 313 panchayats of the district.

Flaying the Congress, Majithia said the previous government had issued just Rs 1 crore for the purpose, whereas the SAD government had a budget of Rs 10 crore for tackling the problem.

To find the solution, a meeting with the departments concerned has been and the matter would be discussed in the presence of chief minister Parkash Singh Badal.

“As per our survey, beside the industrial sludge, the main cause of pollution is sewerage which has been getting mixed in the canals in almost every city and town of the state,” he said.

Majithia, who also holds the portfolio of non-conventional energy, also spoke about the new projects. “By optimum usage of resources, we would provide 60 MW of power within six months. To use the hydel energy in the best possible way, a study is on in which the focus would be on the maximum use of water in rivers and canals, he said.”

Work on mini hydel project at Khanpur, Sadhar, Akhara, Channowal and Gholian on Abohar branch canal will commence this month and these projects with a total of 5.5 MW capacity will be completed by December 2009. The foundation stone for the bio-gas projects would also be laid soon with the aim of producing 320 MW of power, he added.

“The state would be the first in installing the solar system and the completion of projects would be time-bound. Tapping of wind energy is also being considered and two foreign companies have been given the contract for the projects,” said Majithia.

As minister for information and public relations, Majithia said that the public relations department would soon have new vehicles. He said insurance policy for the media persons was also under consideration. “I will take up the matter with the CM to provide subsidised land for the colonies of pressmen in some cities of the state,” he added.

He accused PM Manmohan Singh of ignoring Punjabis despite being a Sikh. Encouraging the panchayat members, he described them as a “bridge between the government and the common man.”

Panchayat member kidnapped
Rajay Deep
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, July 11
Six unidentified persons allegedly kidnapped a panchayat member, Darshan Singh, of village Pitho in the Birtalab area of the city today, hours after the oath-taking ceremony of the panchayat members. Sources said that after taking oath as a panch, Darshan Singh, along with some friends, went to Multaniya village on the outskirts of the city. While returning, they halted at the Birtalab zoo, from where he was allegedly kidnapped.

In his statement to the police, Beant Singh, one of his friends, said they were near the zoo when six unidentified youths came in a Bolero and forcibly dragged him into the vehicle. According to sources, some relative of Darshan Singh wanted to become the sarpanch. Suspecting their hand in the kidnapping, a complaint has been lodged with the police.

To investigate the case, a team comprising superintendent of police (city), ASP (city) and DSP (D) along with the SHO concerned was put on the job. SP (city) Narender Kaushal and ASP Harsh Kumar Bansal said a case would be registered after recording the statement against the unidentified persons at the Kotwali police station. The police officials also suspected that the kidnapping could be a pressure tactics. On the other hand, Iqbal Singh of village Pitho refuted such charges and said that the police had recorded his statement while investigating the case.

I’ll quit PPCC chief’s post if Sonia asks me, says Bhattal
Puneet Pal Singh Gill
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, July 11
“I am fully prepared to leave the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president’s post whenever the party high command wants me to and they can appoint anyone whom they find best for the post,” state Punjab unit chief Rajinder Kaur Bhattal said this while speaking to mediapersons at Bathinda today.

Bhattal was in town to attend the bhog ceremony of Congress leader Sukhdev Singh Chahal’s mother at Gurudwara Haji Ratan Sahib.

Today, from her body language, it seemed as if she has fully prepared herself to leave the PPCC president’s post.

Terming the new appointment of PPCC president as a ‘routine matter’, she said, “Sonia Gandhi made me the PPCC president herself and if she appoints someone else for the same, I will be more than happy because I am a committed soldier of the party.”

Taking aim at the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) and CM Parkash Singh Badal, she said, “The SAD should, at all costs, vote in favour of the nuclear deal because this deal is in larger interests of the state. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has contributed so much for Punjab, even during the SAD regime, all kind of projects have been allotted. So in this need of the hour, it becomes the responsibility of SAD to vote in UPA’s favour.”

“After the nuclear deal comes into being, by 2020, the country would have 20,000 MW of additional power. This would benefit our country.

World Population Day
‘Population control need of the hour’
Sudhanshu Verma
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, July 11
The World Population Day was celebrated in several schools in Bathinda on Friday. The schools organised competitions, chart display, rallies and other programmes to mark the occasion and also to make students aware about the need for population control.

Students took out a massive awareness rally in the city. Talking to the TNS, the District Education Officer (DEO), Bathinda, Baljinder Singh Mann said that around 500 students of different schools took part in the rally, which commenced from the stadium and passed though various colonies and bazaar in the city. The rally aimed at creating awareness about the ill-effects of increasing population, he added.

The Government High School, Chakram Singh Wala, Bathinda, also celebrated the day on the school premises. Following the instruction of district science supervisor under the
activities of Eco Club, the schools hold various events, including speech contest
and chart display.

Headmistress of the school, Rajinder Kaur said that every member of the school, including teaching and non-teaching staff, participated in the programmes.

In the speech competition, the students focussed on the alarming data of population growth in the Indian context. Jaspreet Singh and Manjinder Kaur, both of class X, emerged winners.

A chart display, underlining population explosion, impact of increasing population and limited resources, happy and unhappy families, effect of population growth on the standard of living, was also held on the occasion. The display was aimed at creating awareness about the ill-effects of unmanageable population among rural children through informal education.

Speaking on the occasion, in-charge of the school Eco Club, Shukal Kumar enlightened the students about ways to create awareness about population control.

Addressing the students, the headmistress of the school highlighted the cause of population growth in India. “The size of a family increases also due to the undying desire to have a male child,” she said. She suggested students to discourage the growth of such feeling in their homes.

Marathon held in Moga

Moga, July 11
A large number of school children participated in a marathon rally organised jointly by education and health departments to mark the World Population Day here today.

District Magistrate Satwant Singh Johal flagged off the marathon from the district administrative complex, which culminated at the civil hospital passing through various streets of the town.

Kala Singh, district education officer (secondary) and Adarsh Sood, chief medical officer, and other officers of the district administration were present on the occasion. — TNS

ABOHAR: The Eco-Friendly Club, headed by Tara Grover, in the Govt High School here organised a seminar on the World Population Day. Students, Hina and Mohan Lal, spoke about the threats that the country faced due to unchecked growth in population. Vicky and Neeraj won first and second prizes respectively in the chart making competition. — OC

Abohar facing diesel shortage
Our Correspondent

Abohar, July 11
Acute shortage of diesel has added to the woes of more than 3 lakh people in the sub-division. Most of the inverters have become non-operative due to unprecedented power cuts that were imposed by the PSEB during the last 24 hours and those having generators too were found shuttling from one filling station to other as seven of these had got totally emptied.

Others lamented that the oil companies were forcing them to sale premium diesel that costs Rs 3.5 more per litre. One Dharminder Kumar rued the filling centres had rationed the diesel supply and agreed to sell only 6 litres of diesel to each customer in the afternoon.

The PSEB has scheduled regular power cuts from 8 am to 9 am, then from 12 in the noon to 6 pm but half of the town has not been supplied power till the filing of this report.

Another resident Shiv Kumar Garg questioned how the Board managed to supply power round-the-clock till the day of polling for the municipal elections. After that, the situation has been gradually worsening.

Last night, 11 unscheduled cuts were forced making it impossible for the people to have sleep soundly. The children could be heard crying on every roof.

Jagdish Chuchra, former president of the Sewa Bharti, an NGO, said the consumers had not faced such an ugly situation during the past five years. It was shameful for the state government that talked of welfare of the public.

Inverters have not only become costlier but are also not readily available as the dealers are unable to get the batteries charged.

Breach in Badha canal, primary school flooded
Our correspondent

Fazilka, July 11
A 25-feet wide breach in the Badha canal in village Badha on the outskirts of Fazilka town, around midnight, inundated a government primary school of the village and some areas of bank colony.

The sudden entry of gushing water with fast flow caused panic among the residents of the colony. The flow of water smashed the school boundary wall and thereafter forced entry into bank colony. A part of the link road connecting Fazilka-Ferozepur road was also flooded.

Satnam Chand, member panchayat of the village, immediately informed about the breach to SDM Rajiv Prashar. He directed the officials of canal department to plug the breach. Administration has started plugging the breach.

The village primary school remained inundated under about two feet water. A holiday had to be declared today.