Bathinda, August 14
A visit to Bathinda, one of the most politically active cities of Punjab, is enough to bring out the inadequacies existing in the civic infrastructure here, exposed woefully by the rains.

Just after a brief spell of showers, the city was waterlogged due to the poor state of the drainage channels. The Bathinda-Goniana road, which is called the artery of the city, has become the worst affected.

It appears that the development work initiated on the road, that was supposed to be over by the end of August, is still far from completion. It may be mentioned that the assurances made by the ruling party to develop Bathinda on the lines of Paris has now started made residents of the city anxious. A cross-section of the citizens today approached The Tribune and narrated their woes.

They also accused the administration of mismanaging the development works. "The accumulated water on the road has covered the pits and potholes which were dug up by the Improvement Trust authorities to lay pipes and cables. Due to this, the whole road has become accident-prone and it has become risky especially for two-wheeler riders," they lamented.

The condition of the road is attributed to the alleged unplanned way in which the revamping was done. First of all, the rainy season is not the right time to dig up the roads, but this fact has been ignored. Secondly, the renovation was supposed to be done in a phase-wise manner, but it did not happen and the result is chaos all around.

"The newly laid pavements on the Bathinda-Goniana road have been severely tested by the rain. The level of interlock tiles has started taking an uneven shape. The material, which is being used, can well be said to be sub-standard," they alleged. Despite repeated attempts, K.K. Yadav, Improvement Trust chief and executive officer Gora Lal could not be contacted for their version. 

Moga, August 14
The water level in the Sutlej rose considerably during the past two days due to heavy rainfall in its catchments. This led to inundation of thousands of acres of irrigated land in 30-km stretch along the river belt in Moga district.

The water level is likely to rise further with imminent threat of flood as the irrigation department today flushed out over one-lakh cusecs of water from the Ropar headworks, which was likely to reach here by tomorrow morning. The district administration has sounded an alert and asked the people living in the low-lying areas along the river belt to migrate to safer places.

Inderjit Singh, assistant XEN, irrigation department, informed TNS that the water level in the Sutlej was likely to rise by at least four feet by tomorrow morning considering the release of water from the Ropar headworks.

He added that the total volume of additional water that would reach here would be more than 1.50 lakh cusecs as seasonal rivulets Siswan, Budhki, Sagrao, Budha Nullah and Jasowal drain downstream of Ropar also merge with the river. The major reason for imminent flood in Sherewala, Sherpur Taiban, Sanghera, Rerhwan, Adraman, Shah Jalalpur, Bagge and few other villages was the three feet silt accumulated during the past couple of years.

The existing embankment has the capacity of only two-lakh cusecs of water, said Rashpal Singh and Jagroop Singh, both assistant engineers with the irrigation department.

Local SDM Lakhmir Singh, who visited these villages today, confirmed that an alert had been sounded.

Meanwhile, when this correspondent visited these villages, it was found that thousands of acres of standing paddy crop near the river bed was already submerged.

According to an official estimate, over 50,000 acres of irrigated land in a stretch of about 30 km along the river in the district would be inundated due to the flood waters.

Santokh Singh, a farmer of Rerhwan village, whose house had been damaged due to heavy rains, alleged that the administration has not extended any help to villagers. “No vehicles to transport household items and tents for shelter have been provided by the administration,” he rued.

Mansa, August 14
The heavy rains during the past two days have parlaysed the normal life in the city. Rainwater got accumulated in several wards of the city due to the ineffective sewerage system. It also entered some houses in the city today.

Main areas of the city, including bus stand, Dheer street, Sabzi Mandi road, Beernagar Mohalla and court road, were inundated and the residents were forced to stay indoors. Leader of the Radical People Forum Jaspal Kokhar, CPI (ML) leader Sukhcharan Singh Danewallia, municipal councillor Balvinder Singh Kaka and women’s leader Rekha Sharma have expressed deep concern over the problem of waterlogging in the city.

These leaders said that the poor sewerage system was the main hurdle in draining out the rainwater. They added that during monsoons, accumulation of dirty water leads to spread of diseases like jaundice and malaria.

Bathinda, August 14
Cardiac diseases have shown a rising trend in India. Most of this increase is occurring on account of rising incidence of heart attacks, resulting in damage to heart muscles and eventually leading to heart failures.

According to one estimate, approximately 6.4 crore people will suffer from these problems by the end of 2015. More worrisome is the fact that the rising instances of these problems are in rural areas and among the people of younger age-group as well.

Cardiologists have come up with a new technique to help patients of failing heart to live longer and improve their quality of life.

Called biventricular pacing or cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT), it holds out a new hope for advanced heart failure patients. The technique, the first of its kind in the region, was demonstrated by Dr Rajesh Jindal at the Jindal Heart Institute and Infertility Centre here today.

In an interview with TNS here today, he said nearly 50 per cent of the patients with advanced heart failure had intraventricular conduction delays. "The resultant prolonged QRS (electrical impulses of the heart) duration places the failing heart at a significant mechanical disadvantage and has been associated with poor outcome in these patients. Biventricular pacing (CRT) narrows QRS duration and has been found to be promising in the management of advanced heart failure patients."

Dr Jindal has also warned that not all patients improve after this treatment, therefore careful selection and monitoring is usual for maximal benefit.

He said that encouraged by the efficacy and safety of biventricular pacing, he would undertake biventricular pacing in suitable cases at Jindal Heart Institute and Infertility Centre here.

This modality would not only improve the quality of patients suffering from advanced heart failure, but would also decrease the number of hospital admissions, he added.

Bathinda, August 14
In an Independence Day gift to the people of Bathinda and adjoining areas, the railways have announced the beginning of a passenger train service between Bathinda and Dhuri from August 15.

The train, 2BD, will leave Bathinda station at 10.20 am and reach Dhuri at 12.40 pm. It will halt at all stations en route like Bhucho, Phul, Barnala and Tapa, among others. On its return journey, the train, 3BD will leave Dhuri at 1.15 pm and reach Bathinda at 3.20 pm.

It may be mentioned that the railways had cancelled an earlier express train between the two stations as the route was deemed economically unviable.

Barnala, August 14
The state government dismissed Pargat Singh Khiara, DSP, Barnala, from the service here today. SSP Shiv Kumar Verma confirmed the receipt of orders in this regard.

As per sources, in 1988 when Khiara was a sub-inspector, he was found guilty in a corruption case. The court had then sentenced him to three years of imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000. Later, he approached the High Court to get immediate relief. The HC stayed the orders and Khaira continued with his service.

But acting on the directions of the HC now, the state government has dismissed him from his present post.

Ferozpur, August 14
The festival of "Teej" marking the advent of monsoon season was celebrated here amidst fervour and gaiety at the Sutlej Club on Wednesday night. On the occasion, the women resolved to protect the rights of the girl child and stop female foeticide. To match the mood of the festival women got intricate henna designs applied to their hands.

Daljit Kaur, wife of Jaskiran Singh, ADC, was adjudged as “Teej Queen” by the panel of judges comprising Surinder Kaur and Bhumika Singh.

DC Megh Raj said such festivals keep the society integrated, which was the need of the hour.

Abohar: Renu Popli was adjudged as “Teej Ki Rani” during the colourful Teej festival organised by the Ladies Club here on Thursday, president of the club Karuna Jaiswal informed.

Bathinda, August 14
As the cotton season has set in, the government agencies as well as NGOs have sharpened their tools to destroy the mealy bug that has scared the cotton growers.

Low to medium incidence of mealy bug and jassid has been noticed in some cotton fields. Even the tobacco caterpillar has also been observed in a couple of fields.

While a new insecticide has been launched to protect the plants from the mealy bug that caused immense loss to the cotton farmers last year, the MARKFED organised a farmers awareness camp today in the Sangat block for boosting cotton production.

The Cheminova India Ltd has launched two products, Luphose and Splendour, to fight the sucking pests. These products are broad spectrum insecticides.

A spokesman of the company said that the mealy bug has hit southern Punjab in Pakistan and it may find its way to the cotton belt of Northern and Central India.

The MARKFED camp provided tips to farmers regarding protection of plants. The farmers were advised to use only the recommended insecticides.

Mansa, August 14
As many as eight animals died due to an unidentified disease in Chhakali Sher village during the past week. Condition of nearly 15 animals of this village is critical.

Lakhvinder Singh, leader of the Punjab Kisan Union, informed that five of the buffaloes that died were owned by a family while three others belonged to another family.

Some villagers informed that officials of the Animal Husbandry Department visited the village today.

Lakhvinder said the department sprung into action only after the villagers approached the deputy commissioner.

Mahinderpal Sharma, deputy director of the Animal Husbandry, Mansa, said the infected animals were inoculated and medicines were administered to them. He added that samples had been taken. Sharma claimed that the spreading of the disease was under control.

Villagers demanded that government should take immediate steps to control the disease and compensation should be given to the affected farmers.

They added that the BDPO Budhladha had visited the village and assured them of providing treatment to the infected cattle.