Tarn Taran, April 17
As much as 300 acres of standing wheat crop in about six villages was burnt to ashes today in the Mand area (Beas river area) near the township of Chohla Sahib, 36 kms from here.

According to information, the crop belonged to the farmers of Gharka village and Gujarpura village of this district besides Mand Kapura, Akalpur and other villages of Kapurthala district.

Heera Singh, Ujagar Singh, Amrik Singh, farmers of Gharka village, said short circuit in the electric wires was said to be the reason for the fire.

Hundreds of farmers of surrounding villages came to the spot with their tractors and ploughed the nearby fields to prevent the fire from spreading.

The fire brigade could not reach the spot in four hours.

However, according to Deputy Commissioner Khushi Ram, the administration reacted sharply and Naib Tehsildar Inderjit Singh Dhanoa reached the spot immediately and supervised the prevention operation, as a result of which the fire could be controlled.

According to reports one combine harvesting machine was burnt in the incident.

It is pertinent to mention here that the district has no fire brigade as a result of which people bear more loss in case of fire.

The DC said the administration was busy preparing the report regarding loss due to fire and the report would be sent to the state government for compensation immediately.

He added that farmers, whose wheat crop had already been burnt, would also be compensated and their case too was being forwarded to the government.

The DC supervised grain markets of the district today and inspected procurement measures. He issued instructions to the officials of the procurement agencies to be helpful to farmers in the grain markets.

Jalandhar, April 17
Special treatment for the residents of Model Town and other localities was only short-lived. A 24-hour power supply which they had been receiving in the area for a few days every month will no longer be available.

That actually was a trend till the last week. Every time that a dignitary visited his hometown, higher officials sounded an alert to PSEB officials to ensure the continuous working of the Guru Nanak Nagar feeder, which supplies electricity in the area.

This was being done on special demand by the VVIP who wanted to enjoy all the comforts during his sojourn here. So, while the entire city reeled under four to six hours of power cut, Model Town residents enjoyed a cut-free supply for three days during his visit on April 6, 7 and 8.

The residents of other areas cried foul, demanding that it was unfair to impose cuts in their areas while a posh area remained lit up to appease a VVIP.

After The Tribune carried a news-item ‘VVIP’s sojourn in the city - ‘Area residents enjoy power-free life for 3 days’ on April 11, no such alert has been sounded this time even as the dignitary is scheduled to visit the city again tomorrow.

Instead, the officials have been asked to ensure that the hotline works properly in the Circuit House, where he is expected to enjoy his stay for two days.

The news report mentioned that the dignitary had initially asked for a hotline at his place but he was told that this was not possible for individual houses. The dignitary is then said to have contacted the higher authorities, who allowed the provision for 24-hour power service in his area during his visits in the home town. At this, many PSEB employees are said to have raised a hue and cry pointing out that the VVIPs wanting continuous power supply should rather stay at the Circuit House during their visits, as the place had a hotline connection. 

Amritsar, April 17
The State Special Operation Cell (SSOC), a unit of Counter Intelligence wing, today arrested two persons with six kg heroin, a brand new A.K-47, four magazines and 100 live cartridges.

The SSOC authorities denied that the seizure of a weapon had any link with terrorism. Sources in the department claimed that it was to be used for “self defence” by the accused in case of any eventuality. But the seizure has certainly perplexed the security and intelligence agencies as it was after a long gap that a new weapon has been slipped into this region. Those nabbed were identified as Harjinder Singh and Satnam Singh, both residents of border Malakpur village (falling under Amritsar rural police district).

“It has no link with terrorism as there is no chance of revival of terrorism in the state,” said Manminder Singh, who took the charge as SSP of the Cell only today. “However, the investigation is on. We are finding out from which part of the border the arm slipped into India”, he added.

The two accused were caught near Hayer village at Rajasansi Road where they were waiting for a party from Delhi to deliver the consignment. A case under sections 21, 25, 29, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act and 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act has been registered.

During interrogation, it was found that the recently smuggled consignment from the neighbouring country was to be routed to different parties. Efforts are being made to unearth the whole nexus and network of smugglers on both sides of the border. — TNS

Amritsar April 17
The Amritsar district has topped the chart, followed by Hoshiarpur, in respect of receiving and spending of central funds under the ambitious Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in the financial year 2009-2010.

While Amritsar was able to procure an amount of Rs 32.20 crore, it was able to provide employment to 37,425 households, thus cornering a huge success rate of 83 per cent. This, according to a careful analysis, was followed only by the Hoshiarpur district, the success rate of which was rated at 63 per cent.

Kahan Singh Pannu, the Deputy Commissioner, said during the financial year 2009-10, a total of 15.23 lakh ‘man days’ had been generated. A grant of Rs.104.75 lakh and Rs185.36 lakh was also released to the Forest and Canal & Drainage departments, respectively to boost convergence under this scheme.

Pannu claimed during the year, works of rural connectivity including, ‘earthwork’ along the berms of rural roads, were started in about 785 villages as a campaign in the Amritsar district, which has resulted in the emergence of broad roads in the rural area.

Demarcation of berms of rural roads had been done before starting the earthworks and pacca boundary pillars are being installed on the outer boundaries of the roads.

He said it was proposed that as many as 72,000 boundary pillars will be installed within next 30 days, out of which approximately 10,000 pillars have already been installed.

“These boundary pillars along the roads will be entered in the revenue records, also to prevent any tampering in future and will be suitably painted in black and white for better visibility. A sum of Rs 104.75 lakh had been released to the forest department for plantation, of which an amount of Rs 86.70 lakh had already been spent,” said Pannu.

A large number of trees will be planted on the restored berms of the roads during this rainy season to completely change the rural link roads and environment scenario.