The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Potable water project a hit with rural folk SP Sharma Tribune News Service Bathinda, June 17 The World Bank-funded people participatory drinking water supply scheme project in the villages of Punjab has generated enthusiasm among the rural folk. As many as 3,000 new piped-water supply schemes in the rural areas of 20 districts would be assigned to the private sector for operations and management. This is being done under the rural water supply scheme that is funded by the World Bank and the Central government to benefit about 5 million rural folk, who would share the capital cost of these schemes. The World Bank has provided a loan of Rs1,200 crore for the purpose. N.K. Dhir, senior programme specialist of the World Bank projects in the Punjab Water Supply & Sanitation Department, told this correspondent that 461 villages have already deposited their share of money under the scheme. A road show was organised today by the Punjab Water Supply and Sanitation Department in association with the All India Radio to sensitise the village community towards the importance of potable water. The road show would continue for two months. Under the new scheme, management of the existing single water supply schemes would be transferred to the Panchayati Raj Institutions and the department of water supply and sanitation would play the role of facilitator and not direct service provider. The state government has developed a policy framework for the new rural water supply and sanitation (RWSS) project to strengthen the service delivery under which committees of user groups would be formed to upgrade and manage all intra-village RWSS facilities. It would be a demand driven scheme under which the villages shall be included by adopting a self-selection process for which the users would share 10 percent of the capital cost. The contribution of users would be reduced by 50 percent in the kandi and difficult areas and also in the waterlogged villages. The RWSS project is a paradigm shift from the existing service delivery system as it would be a totally community based approach wherein the rural people would be mobilised to participate in the planning, designing, implementation, operation and maintenance of water supply and sanitation facilities, Dhir said. He said that pilot project of the scheme has been launched in 54 villages. Filtration plants would be constructed in the villages of Bathinda and other areas where the ground water was saline.
	Health dept all set for pulse polio drive The campaign will be organised in the district from June 28-30 during which kids of migrants would be administered polio drops Tribune News Service Bathinda, June 17 The district health department has prepared itself for the Pulse Polio campaign to be held in the district from June 28 to 30 for the children of migrants. Dr Ajitpal Singh, district immunisation officer, called a meeting of medical officers here today. He said the department was fully prepared to administer polio drops to children of migrant families, especially those working at brick-kilns, as per the WHO guidelines. About 16,690 children in the age group of 0 to 5 years would be administered polio drops for its eradication from the district, he said. The official said 84 teams, comprising 27 supervisors, nine block supervisors and seven observation supervisors, would look after the pulse polio drive in the district. As many as 68 mobile teams would also be pressed into service for administering the polio drops for floating population, he added. Dr Ajitpal Singh further informed that a door-to-door campaign for the children of migrants residing in slum areas would be conducted on June 29 and June 30.
	Black marketing of kerosene rampant in Moga Kulwinder Sandhu Tribune News Service Moga, June 17 Black marketing of kerosene is rampant in district headquarters here. Many commercial establishments are using kerosene, which is actually meant for distribution among the poor through the Public Distribution System (PDS). It appears that there is no check on the unscrupulous elements by the food and civil supplies department indicating a nexus between the official machinery and the depot holders. Depot holders on the Chamber road and other locations could be noticed selling kerosene in the black market at rates ranging between Rs 30 and Rs 35. Most of the buyers include sweet shops, migrant labourers and industry owners. There are reports that even the industrial units of Ludhiana buy kerosene from here. Last week, a person was held red-handed by the police selling kerosene in the black market to a person, who was likely to deliver it to an industrial unit in Ludhiana. Another depot holder was held by the police few weeks back. However, the irony of the fact is that the food and civil supplies department has not yet sealed both the depots. They are still being run at their respective places. There are reports that some of the kerosene depot holders do not have adequate space to store the drums of oil meant for PDS and they usually sell kerosene in bulk to the industrial units cutting the quota of the poor people. As per the rules, the depot holders are supposed to have adequate storage space and when the consignment of kerosene arrives at their doorstep it should be checked properly by the food and civil supplies department. A senior official of the food and civil supplies department said on the condition of anonymity that the depot holders in practice keep most of the ration cards of the people in their possession and record fake entries of selling kerosene but actually they sell kerosene in the black market. More than 80 per cent of the people in this town have gas connections but still kerosene entries could be seen in their ration cards. The actual consumption of kerosene has decreased during the recent years in the urban areas but the quota of depot holders has not decreased proportionally, which is also another factor behind black marketing. Sardari Lal, chairman of the Senior Citizens' Council, has gone to the extent of saying, “depot holders have emerged as oil mafia in the town with the influence of black money, political patronage and a visible nexus between them and the officials of the state government.”
	Don’t panic, swine flu is curable Parmod Mehta Mansa, June 17 "There is no need to panic because swine flu is curable and all the necessary arrangements have been made at the Civil Hospital, Mansa", claimed civil surgeon Dr G.S. Nagi here today. He said that no suspected and confirmed case had been reported in the Mansa district till day. He said that an isolation ward had been set up in the Civil Hospital. Health department had decided to create awareness among people about swine flu. Meanwhile, district health officer Dr Rupinder Kumar Singhla who attended a state-level meeting of health officials at Chandigarh on Tuesday said medicine for the treatment of swine flu was available on state head quarter and it would reach in the district in one and two days. A Temiflu capsule is available for the suspected and confirmed cases and suspected patients is supplied one capsule daily for 10 days and confirmed patient is supplied two capsules daily for 10 days. District health officer who is also district nodal officer said that rapid response team had been setup at district level to deal with swine flu cases. During a medical camp which was organised at Bhikhi today people were briefed about swine flu and some directions were given to the people. District health officials appealed to the people to contact on phone number of civil surgeon 01652-222367 and on phone number of district health officer 9872811586. Nodal officer for swine flu in Punjab Dr Deepak Bhatia said that teams had been set up at district level and medicines are available for the effected patients. He said that people can contact on phone number 1075 for help in the condition of swine flu.
	Protest against liquor vend enters sixth day Our Correspondent Mansa, June 17 The residents of Mansa continued their dharna against the set up of liquor vend on the Laluana road here even on the sixth day. They raised slogans against the district administration and the contractors of liquor vend. The residents rued that opening of a liquor vend in the area of population will badly affect the atmosphere. Addressing the dharna, municipal councillor Prem Sagar, Bhupinder Singh and Ved Parkash warned the administration that if the liquor vend was not removed from there, they would continue the protest in the coming days also. Sarabjit Singh, Baboo Kumar, Ravinder Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Sunil kumar and Naresh Kumar also spoke during the dharna.
	Fazilka MC auctions residential plots Our Correspondent Fazilka, June 17 The Municipal Council of Fazilka auctioned its residential plots here at the council office today. The plots in the areas of Dhobi Ghat locality, Sacred Heart Convent School locality and old MR Government College Girls wing premises were scheduled to be auctioned. Anil Sethi, president of the council supervised the auction in presence of the executive officer Tilak Raj Verma, senior vice-president of the council Kanchan Sharma and representatives of the Punjab government. The plots of Dhobi Ghat locality and Sacred Heart Convent School locality could not be auctioned due to higher collector's rates. Nobody came forward to offer the bid. It is pertinent to mention here that earlier too the auction had to be cancelled twice due to higher prices of these residential plots. “We are trying to persuade higher authorities to cut the collector's rate so that the plots could be sold at the market price,” said Anil Sethi. During the auction, 22 plots measuring 30 x 75 feet on the Girls College premises were sold at reasonable price. The old girls college premises is considered to be a disputed land as some followers of a sect have allegedly encroached upon a piece of this land. They have built a temple on this land. The council will be able to generate revenue of about Rs one crore through the sale of the college premises residential plots, claimed Sethi MC president. He revealed that the council would deposit this amount with the Oriental Bank of Commerce to get the council land released from the bank. The bank had auctioned the land due to the non-payment of its loan, given to the council for constructing canal based drinking water project in year 2001. The council challenged the auction conducted by the bank in the Punjab and Haryana High Court last month on the plea that it was not done as per set norms and laws. The petition is pending in the court.