Abohar, November 4
Thousands of farmers of Abohar sub-division and its surrounding areas seem to have been caught in a mess created by the irrigation department authorities as hundreds of cusecs of water is being released to Pakistan by keeping their farms parched.

What has enraged the farmers is the fact that the irrigation department authorities have not only failed to supply them with adequate water to irrigate their blooming mustard crop and prepare the vacant fields for sowing wheat and fodder crops but have also forced them to buy drinking water from Rajasthan.

Information gathered from the official quarters revealed that about 1257 cusecs of water was being released to Pakistan almost daily through the Hussainiwala headworks but in official record of the irrigation department, the quantum of water released to Pakistan through this barrage was being shown as nil.

On the other hand, the farmers of hundreds of villages have been crying even for enough water to fulfill their drinking water requirements, not to speak of getting water for irrigating their fields.

The local irrigation authorities had been left with no other option but to run the distributaries and minors originating from Abohar canal on rotation basis and thus keeping the farmers always deprived of adequate quantity of irrigation water.

Against the requirement of about 3000 cusecs of water, the authorities concerned had released about 2500 cusecs of water a day back and that too after a gap of many days.

“We have been buying one tanker of water from the Gang canal of Rajasthan at the rate of Rs 400 for the past about one week. So far, we have failed to prepare our fields for sowing wheat and fodder crops as there is no water available in the minors and distributaries to irrigate the same. We have also been finding it difficult to save our mustard (Sarson) crops in the absence of canal water,” said Surinder Kumar, president, Malukpura Minor Tail-end Kisan Sangarash Samiti and a leading farmer of village Gumjal.

A cross-section of farmers also alleged that the authorities concerned had been releasing full water to Rajasthan and denying even a little water to those areas of Punjab, which are located at the tail-end of different distributaries.

Tejwinder Singh Aulakh, patron, Daulatpura Minor Tail Sangarash Samiti, said as strong resentment prevailed among the farmers of this region, they had started planning to launch an agitation shortly to lodge their protest against the mischief being done to them by the irrigation department authorities.

Superintendent Engineer (SE), Irrigation (Ferozepur) Baljeet Singh Sandhu, when contacted, said efforts were on to fulfill the requirements of water of farmers of this region. He, however, preferred not to make any comment when asked as to why water was being released to Pakistan at the cost of the farmers of Punjab.

Bathinda, November 4
What picture comes up in your mind when you hear the word Diwali? Lights, crackers and sound… in a nutshell, having a blast at the celebrations! Sounds right!

But like everything, winds of change have started embracing the whole gamut of celebrations. And this change is loud and clear, and could be heard even on the eve of the D-Day.

Magnificent and sparkling lights, which normally come up on every building a week ahead of the festival have been seen twinkling but not to its usual extent - many buildings here have not been adorned by the decorative lights. But the real change is here — the ear-splitting sounds of crackers are not making the atmosphere thunderous. Even late in the evening on Diwali eve, almost complete silence prevailed, with the familiar sound of crackers only punctuating the silence but seldom setting the pace for the Diwali fireworks.

Residents cite skyrocketing price of crackers as one of the main reasons for this 'sweet' change besides the efforts of anti-cracker awareness campaigns, launched by various organisations, schools and others.

For many, this change is pleasant. Krishan Singhal of Ganesha Nagar said that such change must be encouraged. “Crackers are not only bad for environment but also pose health hazards to human beings,” he added.

Mahvir of Mehna Chowk said that right from kids to senior citizens, all are adversely affected by the side-effects of bursting of firecrackers. He also supported a cracker-free Divali.

Another local, Vikas Puri, echoing similar sentiments said people who are creating awareness about the ill-effects of crackers should be awarded and encouraged.

Bathinda, November 4
The anti-crackers campaign has started getting momentum in the rural areas of Bathinda district.

In his bid to give the environment its due, president of the Bathinda district Panchayat Union, Baldev Singh Jhandu Ke, would launch a door-to-door campaign in his village Jhandu Ke on Divali day on Friday to create awareness about the benefits of cracker-free celebrations.

As per Baldev, crackers cause respiratory and skin problems and loss of hearing in many every year. He also said that due to crackers, people landing in hospitals has become a normal feature of the festival. In his efforts to make villagers aware of the benefits of 'silent celebrations', he has been making such announcements through the village gurdwara.

To encourage people to go for cracker-free Divali in rural areas, the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has announced to give an award to the village panchayat that celebrates cracker-free festival. The award would be conferred on the village panchayat during the state-level function on World Environment Day that falls on June 5, said scientific officer, PPCB, Charanjit Singh Nabha.

Individuals working for creating awareness regarding benefits of cracker-free Divali would also be honoured, Nabha said.

From next year, the Punjab Pollution Control Board is likely to install machine to measure the decibel on Divali day in villages, sources in the PPCB said.

Besides government bodies, many organisations, schools and others have launched anti-cracker campaigns in Bathinda.

Many schools have vowed to celebrate eco-friendly Divali. No-cracker campaigns launched every year in the district have started showing positive signs.

Bathinda, November 4
In the heat of Divali celebrations, crackers can also prove to be dangerous and a little vision is needed to save one's precious vision.

Divali night becoming a nightmare for many families is not unheard of. Parents spending the glittering night in the emergency wards of hospitals, praying for the vision of their children hit by fire-crackers, are also not uncommon.

Bathinda, November 4
Bathinda Vikas Manch has started a campaign for celebrating 'Clean Diwali, Green Diwali' this year. Activists of the Manch held a programme in this connection at the Teachers' Home here. Rakesh Narula of the Manch pointed out that every year, bursting of crickers resulted in incidents of fire outbreak and hence, it should be avoided.

DK Garg, Vinod Kumar Gupta and Radhey Shyam Bansal pointed to the dangers in bursting crackers and said adequate precaution must be taken while celebrating Diwali. The Manch also appealed to the people to remain vigilant during the festival season to foil the nefarious designs of anti-social and anti-national elements.

The local Millennium School on Monday celebrated the Punjab Day with Divali Deewangi. Students and teachers wore Punjabi dresses.Principal of the school Beena Rao appealed to the students to say No to crackers and celebrate an eco-friendly Divali.

The Radcliffe School, Bathinda today organise an 'environment awareness road show' in Bathinda. The green campaign, a part of 'Green Bathinda and Eco-friendly Bathinda,' started from Mall Road in the morning and culminated after passing through various roads in city. Holding anti-cracker banners and placard, social workers and staff of the school took part in daylong campaign.

The four-day exhibition ‘Roshanaara-2010 organised at Swami Vivekananda Girls College concluded on Wednesday. The chief guest at the closing ceremony, Dr Manjinder Kaur Gill, wife of Bathinda SSP Sukhcahin Singh Gill, honoured the students of fashion designing and fashion technology department who displayed their outstanding skills at the exhibition.

College principal Raj Gupta thanked the guests for their presence and appreciated the efforts of the students. — TNS

Moga, November 4
A woman, who allegedly connived with her paramour and two of his associates to kill her husband, was arrested along with one of the alleged accused youths on Wednesday, the police said.

Gurpreet Singh (29) was allegedly kidnapped by his wife Gurdarshan Kaur, her paramour Kala Singh and two of his associates Randhir Kumar and Jagga Singh on October 25, this year. They later murdered Gurpreet Singh and buried his body in a village pond.

A case of kidnapping was registered by the police on a complaint filed by the woman.

However, during the course of investigation, the police found that she had connived to kill her husband, a senior official of the police said.

The police had arrested the woman and one alleged accused Randhir Singh and booked all of them on the charges of abduction and murder. The main accused Kala Singh was still eluding arrest.

The reason behind the murder was stated to be that Gurpreet Singh came to know about the illicit relations of his wife with Kala Singh and he objected to it.

Moga, November 4
The father of a six-year-old boy has claimed that his son was abducted by a teenager and sexually assaulted by a teenaged boy of their village. The boy, a resident of nearby village, and a student of UKG, was forcibly taken to his house by a class X student where he physically and sexually abused him.

“I am very sad and disappointed over this unfortunate incident,” said the father of the child, while giving his statement to the police. He alleged that his son was assaulted and sexually abused by the teenager.

The father said the incident took place on October 30 when his son was allured on the pretext of giving him sweets by the teenager, who was a frequent visitor to their house.

The victim has suffered physical injuries and post-traumatic stress, which was quite evident when he was brought to the district hospital for a medical examination, last evening. The medical test of the victim has been conducted.

Puran Chand, sub-inspector, who is investigating the case, said the police had registered a criminal case under section 377 of the IPC on Wednesday but the accused was yet to be arrested. “Investigations are on and we would soon nab him,” he claimed.

The incident has again pointed to the fact that Moga is becoming a crime-prone region of Punjab.

Sriganganagar, November 4
Mortal remains of Sant Lekha Singh, who died last month following cardiac arrest during a public meeting, were immersed in the Indira Gandhi canal at Biradhwal headworks near Suratgarh today.

Senior functionaries of all the leading political parties were present. Notably, he had many a times drawn the attention of the global media and top brass in major political parties by spearheading farmers’ agitations over canal water at Gharsana as convener of the Rajasthan Kisan Majdoor Beopari Sangharsh Samiti.

The 80-year-old saint had suffered a heart attack the moment he stood up to discuss the problems of people during a sangat darshan programme held during the visit of District Collector Subeer Kumar at his native village Chak 19GD.

Abohar, November 4
Ferozepur district emerged winners in the boys as well as girls category in the 56th Punjab State Dodge Ball Tournament that was jointly organised by the education and sports departments.

District Education Officer Baldev Singh Saini honoured the winners during the valedictory function that was held at Amrit Model School here.

Giving details of the tourney, convener KC Kalra informed that 26 teams (14 of boys and 12 of girls) from different districts had participated.