Bathinda, July 7
The local main bus stand though has spread over a vast space, including the workshop area, but after entering its main gate one feels one has entered such a congested bus stand where a large number of buses are either parked or moving while people fail to find proper space even to walk safely in the bus stand's yard. A slight error can land a person in physical trouble or a mishap.

One can easily assess the congestion at the local PRTC bus stand from the number of buses which touch the bus stand daily from various parts of the state. The number of the big buses is said to be more than 1350. Apart from this, about 400 mini-buses also enter the bus stand daily. So more than 1750 buses enter the bus stand daily, causing congestion and trouble for the passengers.

According to information, the bus stand is spread over about 58,000 square yards, including the workshop area. However, the congestion at the bus stand is a matter of concern as the space for parking a large number of big buses is insufficient in the bus stand area. Besides, the mini-buses are also parked inside the bus stand area and ply from here to their respective destinations. More than half of the total area of the bus stand is said to be under the workshop area.

Seeing the congestion, the PRTC authorities in the past have reportedly suggested the state government to merge a part of the workshop area with the main bus stand for parking the buses and plying the same from there, but to no avail so far. Besides, the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB) had also got a map approved in the past for construction of a modern bus stand here, but that scheme also failed to achieve a positive result.

When contacted, the general manager (GM) of the PRTC's Bathinda depot Iqbal Singh admitted congestion at the bus stand due to arrival and departure of more than 1700 big and mini-buses daily. However, he said that the employee unions of the PRTC had met the Chief Minister in December last to sell the land of the existing bus stand for purchasing 13 acres of the PUDA land near Bibi Wala Chowk here for constructing and shifting the bus stand there. But the proposal was still in progress, so nothing could be stated about the final outcome of it at this stage, he added. 

Bathinda, July 7
To build people's movement against environmental toxicity in Punjab, famous singer Rabbi Shergill will on July 10 inaugurate at Faridkot a photo exhibition of Raghu Rai's pictures of the Bhopal gas tragedy. The exhibition is being organised by the Kheti Virasat Mission (KVM).

Umendera Dutt, executive director of the KVM, said though Rabbi is supporting KVM's campaign on safe environment for quite some time but with this programme he is openly joining the movement against environmental toxicity.

The four-day long exhibition will have daily session of people's dialogue on environmental toxicity. These sessions shall be addressed by Rashida Bi, who headed the entire struggle of the people of Bhopal for the last 25 years , Dr Inderjeet Kaur of Pingalwara, Amritsar, Dr SS Gill, Vice-Chancellor, Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot and Dr Rajneesh Arora, Vice-Chancellor, Punjab Technical University. The exhibition would also be organised in other places of Punjab.

He said there are so many Bhopals happing in Punjab too but nobody cares about it particularly the government. Punjabis are suffering from many types of health and reproductive health related serious problems due to the heavy environmental toxicity in the soil, waters and air. Industrial waste with heavy metals is continuously polluting sub-soil and surface waters of Punjab. The heavy burden of chemical pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers on Punjab agriculture is also a massive cause for the crisis, the KVM executive director pointed out.

The heavy environmental toxicity is dangerously affecting almost the entire state and it is the right time to fight for our fundamental rights to live safely on planet earth, Dutt added.

Sardoolgarh (Mansa), July 7
Though water in the “unruly” Ghaggar, is yet to reach here, going by the reports of it touching danger mark upstream somewhere near Patiala, the district administration as well residents of dozens of villages located around it are already feeling the turbulence.

In the wake of alarm bells ringing in the surroundings, on the one hand, the district administration has tightened its belt to avoid any untoward incident, if the water surges in the river, and on the other, villagers, who have earlier witnessed devastation due to floods in Ghaggar, apprehending danger to their properties and lives, have geared up for relief and rescue on their own.

Taking pre-emptive measures, the administration has short-listed 39 villages of the district comprising 23 in Budhladha sub-division and 16 in Sardoolgarh, which could be affected by floods in Ghaggar.

To avoid any complacency in tackling the possible flood-like situation, besides assigning the SDM Sardoolgrah NS Brar the task of regularly inspecting all arrangements, the district magistrate Kumar Rahul has also ordered that no district officer should leave the station without prior permission. Further, the flood-prone area has been divided into various sectors.

Leaving no stone unturned, on the one hand, the administration has started communicating with Army officials and NGOs, and on the other, mock drill exercise has also been launched. Meanwhile, Civil Surgeon, Mansa, has been directed to constitute medical teams for providing healthcare in areas prone to floods.

Ensuring the preparedness, the administration has established a flood control room but the toll-free telephone number, which was termed mandatory, is yet to be installed.

To ensure the security of embankments, the district magistrate advised the SSP Mansa to direct his staff to remain vigilant and also set up a special police post for the cause. Further, the SSP has been asked to provide a special vehicle laced with wireless set to keep the department well informed about the situation of Ghaggar.

However, if one goes by the experiences of villagers and the administration, Ghaggar has become a matter of worry for all of them.

During a visit to some villages, this correspondent observed that farmers there were a harried lot as fearing devastation due to floods in Ghaggar, for the past couple of years, they had been ploughing their fields half-heartedly.

Some elderly villagers, who claimed to have witnessed destruction twice in the past did not even mind blaming the political leaders.

“While begging for votes, politicians promise to bring permanent solution to the menace but nothing could be done till date. At the time of floods, leaders come and shed crocodile tears but soon they forget our misery,” said an elderly Hukam Singh.

Expressing his anguish, Bohar Singh of village Sabuwala said, “I remember the days, when the Ghaggar was in spate and caused destruction in several villages here. A number of politicians reached us but none offered either any monetary help or raised our voice in assembly. Terming it a natural calamity, they claimed to have done their job.”

Bathinda, July 7
Mystery shrouds the death of a 35-year-old constable of the Kotwali police station, who was found dead in Maalkhana (a room in a police station meant to store case properties) located near the grain market, here this morning.

According to the staff of the Maalkhana, the constable Ajaib Singh, who was posted as Naib court of the police station, reached there at about 7.15 am. Finding himself alone in a room, where an official rifle of a security guard (deputed there) was lying, he reportedly shot himself.

Hearing the sound, a number of people including his colleagues assembled at the spot and found him lying in a pool of blood. Seeing his serious condition, they rushed him to the Civil Hospital, Bathinda, from where the doctors referred him to a private hospital, located near Bhucho Mandi.

Later, he succumbed to his injuries and the body was taken back to the Civil Hospital for postmortem. After conducting the postmortem, police officials handed over his body to his kin.

A number of cops including the DSP (City) and SHO Kotwali police station attended his cremation, which took place at his native village Ghaniya near Rampura in Bathinda district, this evening.

The deceased is survived by his wife and a son. Replying to queries during the investigation, the bereaved kin stated that while leaving the house at about 6 am, he appeared to be quite normal. They mentioned no reason which could have forced him to take such an extreme step.

After conducting preliminary investigation, police termed it as a case of suicide but the two visible bullet injuries on his body-one in the head and another in the abdomen --- raised doubts.

Even after holding discussions for a long time, senior police officials could not ascertain as to how he had fired at himself twice from a rifle which needs to be loaded before every shot.

Speaking to TNS, SHO Kotwali police station Balwinder Singh said, “Prima facie, it appears to be a case of suicide but we do not know the reason behind this step. Moreover, it is yet be ascertained whether he succumbed due to one shot or two. We have been waiting for the postmortem report, which will come on Thursday, to ascertain the facts.”

Bathinda, July 7
Due to the negligence on the part of the SAD-BJP government, development works in Bathinda have taken a backseat as the government failed in providing accounts of Rs 40 crore, received from the Centre, said Bathinda MLA Harmander Singh Jassi, adding that due to this, the Centre had not released second installment of Rs 70 crore.

Jassi was addressing gatherings during his mass contact programme at different localities here.

He further said due to negligence of the SAD-BJP government the Bathinda residents had not been getting safe drinking water. He assured the people that he would make efforts for solving drinking water and sewerage problems. — TNS

Bathinda, July 7
To achieve one of its two main aims, creation of healthy and disease-free society in the country, the Bharat Swabhiman Trust, Patanjali Yog Peeth, Haridwar, will enroll and train 11 lakh yoga teachers in two years to introduce yoga classes in every village of the country.

Stating this here today the national secretary of the Trust Rajiv said here today that at present 2.40 lakh yoga teachers were imparting yoga training to the people in the country. He said the Trust had also took a pledge to make every citizen of the country healthy with the help of yoga pranayam and ayurveda while as part of this pledge about one lakh yoga classes were already being held daily in various parts of the country. He also claimed that after two years, six lakh classes would be held daily.

He said the Trust would also make sincere efforts to bring Rs 328 lakh crore, deposited in foreign banks by bureaucrats and politicians etc, back to the country. He said the Trust had also got a public interest litigation (PIL) filed in the Supreme Court to get this money declared as “national wealth”.

Rajiv further said the Trust would also appealed to the MPs to bring a resolution to bring back this money from the foreign banks.

Bathinda, July 7
A seminar on study visa for New Zealand and Canada was held at Brills Institute here today.

Two ex-visa officers, Rohit Menon and Ashish James, guided the students for New Zealand study visa while Almasto, a consultant for Canada visa, replied to the queries. Managing director of the institute Ashok Sadiora also spoke on the occasion. — TNS

Ferozepur, July 7
Himanshu Kumar, a functionary of Banvasi Chetna Ashram (Dantewada), Chhattisgarh, an organisation involved in the welfare of tribes, today urged the Centre to stop the operation Green Hunt against the so-called Maoists and stop killing of innocent tribals under the garb of the same.

“The Centre has been uprooting the tribals and looting valuable minerals from their lands falling in Chhattisgarh and other states to extend undue benefits to the multinational companies (MNCs) and subsequently killing them by branding them as Maoists,” he alleged. Himanshu, who visited Hussainiwala to pay his tributes to the national martyrs Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru, while talking to the media, alleged that the Centre under its deep-rooted conspiracy had been making Indians kill Indians.

Both the constables of para military forces and members of different tribal communities, who are killing each other, belong to poor families and hence, poor is killing poor and rich people have been deriving monetary benefits out of it, he said.

Himanshu, who is to visit Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra after covering Punjab in connection with his campaign against operation Green Hunt, said tribals in 644 villages had been displaced for mining the minerals by the Centre and then they were subjected to extra-constitutional killing by branding them Naxalites instead of giving them justice by rehabilitating them.

“I have been meeting people, organisations and right thinking citizens so that a movement can be built against the illegal and extra-constitutional operation launched against so-called Naxalites. My main aim is that civil society must work and put pressure on the authorities concerned to stop killing of tribals,” he said.

He alleged that conspiracy to kill innocent tribal was also reflected from the fact that the Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram was a member of the governing body of Vedanta group, an MNC, before he became minister in the cabinet in the current UPA government.

Similarly, Chidambaram’s wife was acting as the legal advisor of a company run by the Reddy brothers in Andhra Pardesh and involved in mining business.

Madhu Koda, the former Chief Minister of Jharkhand, later booked for corruption case, had amassed wealth to the tune of Rs 4000 crores by bartering away the economic interests of tribals. This was another example which proved that the tribal were being denied their rights.

Moga, July 7
The Vigilance Bureau of Punjab has submitted a status report on the controversial arrest of the Moga drug inspector, Balram Luthra, before the district and sessions court, which was reviewed by the additional sessions judge, Raj Shekhar Attri, here today. A DSP of the Bureau, Banarsi Dass, has also brought to the notice of the court on Tuesday that the original file of the case is in the Bureau’s head office at Chandigarh for the perusal of higher authorities.

A cancellation report in the case could be filed before the court only after getting sanction from the head office after completing certain departmental formalities, the DSP verbally informed the court.

Moga, July 7
Dark smoke rose high from a large ‘pyre’ on the premises of the SD School at Moga. In this funeral seized medicines worth Rs 4 lakh were unscientifically burnt by the students of the school, in the presence of the health minister of the state, Laxmi Kanta Chawla, in an organised show of fight against the drugs.

No matter, the Punjab government had decided in the year 2008 to purchase incinerators for the destruction of drugs but these allopathic medicines having chemical compositions were burnt in open, which created pollution in the school premises.

Environmentalists said burning of the expired medicines at low temperature or in open results in the release of toxic pollutants to the air.

The Chief Medical Officer of Moga, Dr Kulwant Singh, revealed to the media that the medicines which they destroyed recently had crossed their expiry date and thus they could not use them.

“We had no option but to destroy them,” he said.

Ferozepur, July 7
A Pak national, identified as Sultan, was arrested last night by the Border Security Force (BSF) personnel guarding the border near New Gajni wala Border Observation Post (BOP) in Ferozepur sector.

Information gathered by the TNS revealed that Sultan, was arrested when he entered the Indian territory from Pakistan last night and came near to the cobra fencing erected on the Indo-Pak border.

The BSF guards, who took him into custody immediately without any resistance from him, recovered a few currency notes of Pakistan. Setu Ram, Commandant, BSF, Mamdot area, said during the interrogation, he had been saying one word-Sultan-to every question.

He could not give any information about him, he said. He said no weapon, narcotics or any other incriminating document was recovered from him. A case in this connection would be registered by the police, he added.