Moga, June 19
Water level in the Sutlej in Moga district is steadily rising due to copious rainfall in catchment areas of the river in Himachal Pradesh and intermittent downpour in lower areas in Punjab during the past couple of weeks.

A survey of the river belt in Sanghera, Madarpura, Mandir, Melak, Takhtuwala and other villages in the district brought to light that moong, maize and mint crops on hundreds of acres of cultivable land lying within the embankments of the river had got damaged. It may be mentioned that a few years back the state government had allotted thousands of acres of land falling within the embankments of Sutlej in Ferozepur and Moga districts to those farmers who were tilling it for the past many decades without sensing the risk of life and property at the time of floods.

Jagir Singh, Nambardar of Madarpura village, said that his crop of moong got damaged a few days back when suddenly the water level rose and touched the embankments. Other farmers said they had not yet transplanted the paddy crop fearing the threat of flood, which may put them under financial stress. The district administration has already sounded an alert and set up a flood control room at the district headquarters, besides appointing nodal officers at the sub-division and block levels. As many as 34 villages along the Sutlej had been identified as flood prone.

The district administration had also claimed that seven boats, three boat engines, a boat trailer, three engine stands, 40 life jackets, 36 tents and other relevant material had been made ready to meet any emergency. But, investigations made by The Tribune revealed that the administration has not purchased even a single tent during the current season and those kept for emergency were in a bad condition. They were purchased a couple of years back and were unfit for use. The boats too had not been tested and were insufficient to meet emergency situation like the one during the 2008 floods.

Bathinda, June 19
Family members of Malika Rani of Kotkapura, a 21-year-old ANM student who had reportedly hanged herself to death in the girls hostel located at the local Civil Hospital a fortnight ago, today announced to go on fast-unto-death from June 24 till the cops arrested her college principal, who was booked for abetment to suicide.

The bereaved kin had to lodge a protest to make the Kotwali police book the principal, Kamal Kaur, under Section 306 of the IPC for allegedly abetting Malika to commit suicide.

However, the accused is still at large which is irking the bereaved family. Malika’s kin today claimed to take the fight for justice to its conclusive end.

Accusing police officials of shielding the accused, Malika’s grandmother Dalip Kaur alleged, “The police has become so insensitive that even after our repeated representations and protests, they are not taking any step to arrest the accused. With the patronisation of the cops, the kin of the accused have now started threatening us with dire consequences if we did not settle the matter.”

Taking a dig at the police, she alleged, “This is the height of injustice. We are poor daily wagers who cannot grease the palms of the cops. We know that the cops are under the influence of the husband of the accused who is a leader of some employees union. That is why the cops were even reluctant to lodge a criminal case against her.”

“We have now decided that four of our family members will sit on fast-unto-death outside the office of the Bathinda SSP. I would not even mind setting myself ablaze there to make the administration punish the guilty woman,” threatened Dalip Kaur.

Speaking to the media, Kamaljeet Singh, brother of the deceased, alleged that a leader of a farmers union visited their house at Kotkapura where he along with some others openly warned them to withdraw the case or face consequences.

“We had accused the principal of abetment to suicide as Mailka used to tell us that the principal had some personal enmity with her and had mistreated her on several occasions,” he added.

In the past fortnight, the bereaved family has staged several protests outside the police station and the offices of senior police officials.

Brushing aside the allegations, Kotwali police station SHO Sukhdev Singh said the police was intensively conducting raids to nab the accused. He refuted the charges of being influenced by the husband of the accused and claimed that the inquiry would be totally free of bias.

Bathinda, June 19
The number of instances related to violation of human rights of residents of Punjab has been witnessing an upward trend for many years past.

While disclosing this here today, Baljinder Singh Thakur, member, Punjab State Human Rights Commission (PSHRC), said it had come to the notice of the commission that apart from police authorities, the health department, pollution department, municipal committees, municipal corporations and electricity department were also indulging in violation of human rights.

"Earlier, the number of complaints received by the PSHRC in a year was around 200. Now, it is receiving about 200 complaints daily," he pointed out.

The complaints against government doctors, officials of municipal bodies, pollution department, electricity department and other agencies had been outnumbering the ones being received against cops.

The reason behind the increase in number of complaints was that various agencies of the state government had become insensitive to the problems of people. In addition, people were also becoming aware of human rights and approaching the PSHRC whenever they are victimised.

Thakur presided over a seminar on human rights awareness organised by the Bharat Vikas Parishad at Maur Mandi in this district today.

Talking to media persons here, he said a comprehensive campaign must be launched to create awareness about human rights among the people.

He also stressed that the state government should allow the PSHRC to engage experts of different fields so that it could deal with different kinds of complaints effectively.

He said till April 2011, the PSHRC had received 1,57,421 complaints.

He added that the PSHRC had also taken suo motu notices of some of the problems being faced by the people after learning about it from the media and had converted the same into complaints also.

Barnala, June 19
Six-year-old Gorakh Singh of Amla Singh Wala village here has a hole in his heart. His mother Jaspreet Kaur works as a maid and has to support two other children, both daughters. Given her meagre income, it is an uphill task for her to get Gorakh treated, thus raising question marks over his longevity. But the district administration has stepped in to aid the child and has informed the family that it will get him treated free of cost.

“My husband passed away five years ago leaving us with no source of income. We could have died of starvation but then I started working as a maid in local households here. After my son was born, about a year later, he was held by a villager in his lap during his father’s last rites. It was noticed that he bled from the nose. After that we took him to a private clinic where the doctor told us that he has a hole in his heart. Since then, whenever he bleeds from his nose, I get him treated as per my financial condition,” said Jaspreet, the mother of Gorakh, who studies in second standard at the government primary school, Amla Singh Waala.

“I earn roughly about Rs 700 per month from the work I do in nearby households. Given this amount of money I cannot get him treated and he may not survive for long,” she added. She informed that the district administration has approached her through the District Education Officer for the treatment of his son free of cost and she is thinking about it. In another case, 14-year-old Harmeet Kaur, daughter of Lakhwinder Singh of Bhadalwadh, a labourer who works in Dubai, and a student of ninth standard at the Government High School Bhadalwadh , too has a hole in her heart.

The family does not have the resources to get her treated. In this case also, the district administration has asked the family to provide full details so that she can be treated free of cost.

“My daughter had jaundice when she was just three years old. After that we took her to a doctor at my parents' place in Mathura. The doctor told us that Harmeet has a hole in her heart and needs treatment. Thereafter, we also get her treated in Delhi but she continues to have the problem,” said Rashpal Kaur mother of Harmeet. She added that given their financial condition, they cannot get her operated but thankfully, the district administration has come forward to help the family in getting Harmeet Kaur treated free of cost.

Young Harmeet, who is passionate about painting, said she wants to get rid of the problem and wants to paint the brighter shades of life. Eklavya Gada, Civil Surgeon at Barnala Civil Hospital, said if a child has a hole in the heart, then there is risk to life. “The kids should be operated upon so that the problem is solved,” the Civil Surgeon said.

Deputy Commissioner Barnala, Paramjeet Singh said during a recent visit to schools in Bhadalwaadh and Amla Singh Wala, he was informed that Gorakh and Harmeet had holes in their heart. “I immediately ordered the staff of the school to submit the files of these kids. With special instructions from the Government of Punjab, both these kids will be operated upon free of cost and given all necessary things which they want,” the DC said.

Moga/Jalalabad(Ferozepur), June 19
Integrated Municipal Solid Waste Management project proposed to be set up on Public Private Partnership model covering 18 cities/towns of Ferozepur, Faridkot and Moga districts at Bir Chahal village, located on the border of Ferozepur and Faridkot districts, is yet to get approval from the State Expert Appraisal Committee of the State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India.

The State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority after discussing the project plan and its components in a meeting held on June 11 has referred the project report to the State Expert Appraisal Committee for further action because many ‘deficiencies’ have been found in the project report.

The MC of Ferozepur has applied for environmental clearance to establish an Integrated Municipal Solid Waste Management Facility to handle 350 TPD of solid waste in an area of 18 acres at Bir Chahal village but the change of land use status classification of the said area as per the master plan has not been submitted by it, which has delayed getting sanction for this project.

Besides, the no objection certificates of various departments regarding the topographical map of the area showing contour plan, status of construction (if any) along with photographs from all the four sides, 500 meter radius map of the area from periphery of project site clearly indicating the various industries/structures (specifically red category industries) lying in the area, certificates from authorised departments- state boundary not within 10-km, project not lying in eco-sensitive/protected area including wildlife sanctuaries, not lying in the critically polluted areas have not been submitted with the project report.

Meanwhile, Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal who held a series of Sangat Darshan in his home constituency Jalalabad and Fazilka assembly segments in the past 48 hours, said the state government had been focusing on producing power from municipal and other solid wastes. He said a number of thermal plants were being set up in Punjab for converting power deficient state into surplus power producing state. Now, the state had been divided into eight zones for scientific disposal of solid wastes.

“A number of private companies were setting up solid waste processing plants under which power, manure and plastic would be manufactured from it Besides solving the problem of pollution, it would give a new look to the urban areas,” he said. The private companies themselves would organise door-to-door collection and transportation of solid waste. After processing the solid waste, power and manure would be produced, he added.

Barnala, June 19
“All the development projects announced by CM Prakash Singh Badal during Sangat Darshan should be completed on time. Laxity at any level would not be tolerated,” stated principal secretary to CM Darbara Singh Guru, while presiding over a meeting to review the development projects of Barnala district.

Barnala Deputy Commissioner Paramjeet Singh presented a detailed report of the ongoing development projects in the district. Senior officials from all the departments of the district attended the meeting. — TNS

Bathinda, June 19
The traders of Punjab have started gearing up to launch a statewide agitation against certain actions taken against them by the state excise and taxation authorities.

The state excise and sale tax authorities have started issuing them notices for reopening their sale tax cases pertaining to the year 2006-07 and the traders are bound to give prior information to the department in connection with a transaction worth Rs 20,000 or more.

In its meeting held here today, the top functionaries of the Punjab Pardesh Beopar Mandal decided that first, the Beopar Mandal would approach the state government by submitting memorandums to deputy commissioners and if the government failed to withdraw such orders, they would launch an agitation.

The meeting was attended by Madan Lal Kapoor, president of the Punjab Pardesh Beopar Mandal, and vice-president Mehnga Ram along with Ashok Kumar Dhunike and Rajinder Raju, presidents of district and city units of the organisation, respectively.

The traders said it was difficult for them to produce documents related to the transactions made by them in 2006-07 as they had not kept any record of the same.

Moreover, the traders had filed the tax returns for the period on time.

They said a small trader, who did not record his transactions on computers, would find it difficult to give prior information as demanded by the sales tax department.

Rajinder Raju alleged that the excise and sales tax authorities had imposed such conditions on the traders to use these as a tool to extract money.

He further alleged that a trader, who refused to grease the palms of the officials of the sale tax department, was subjected to harassment.

Bathinda: Pragma Hospital in consultation with Vascular Concepts Ltd on Sunday conducted a disease management programme “Heart Insure’ exclusively for heart patients. The programme mainly aims at enrolling post-angioplasty patients for a three year heart monitoring and disease management therapy.

Dr Gursewak Singh Gill, MD, Pragma Hospital said the aim is to reduce complications and improve disease management. Shaina Fernandes, head, Heart Insurance team said diet, exercise and lifestyle modification was important to achieve lower risk factors. — TNS