Crops in 6 Patiala villages damaged by Ghaggar waters 
Haripur (Patiala), July 1
Farmers from villages on the Punjab-Haryana border today blocked traffic from 10.30 pm to 1 pm on the Patiala-Kaithal highway today in protest against the construction of the 3.75-km concrete wall along the Hansi-Butana canal embankment. They were led by sarpanch of Dharmeri village Kashmir Singh.

Labourers plug a breach in the Panjawa sub-canal near Abohar; and (right) Patiala farmers protest against Hansi-Butana wall. Tribune photos

13 flood control rooms set up in Ropar district
Ropar, July 1
Thirteen flood control rooms have been set up in the district for the rainy season. These will work round the clock till September 20. The Swan, Sarsa, Budhki, Siswan and Sagrao rivulets passing through the four subdivisions of Ropar. These carry water from parts of Himachal Pradesh and merge with the Sutlej, causing floods.

Amritsar, July 1
Local Member of Parliament Navjot Singh Sidhu today claimed that the Punjab Government has reduced VAT on air turbine fuel (ATF) for Sri Guru Ramdas International Airport from the existing 22 per cent to 4 per cent bringing it on a par with the Chandigarh airport.

Sidhu said the CM has given his nod to the decision and it will be approved in the meeting of the Punjab Cabinet soon.

Interacting with mediapersons, Sidhu said the move was Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s gift to pilgrims visiting the holy city from across the world.

He said the reduction in VAT will attract more domestic airlines to the international airport in Amritsar. According to him, ATF constitutes a major portion of operating cost of an airline.

Subsequently, the move will benefit the local hotel and tourism industry as well as civil aviation in Punjab, thus increasing employment opportunities for local youth and contributing to the economic growth of the city.

He said that passenger traffic at the Amritsar airport will go up manifold and that will increase the revenue of the Airport Authority of India which at present is incurring losses to the tune of Rs 20 crore annually in Amritsar. He said cheaper fuel will encourage airlines to re-route their flights via the holy city.

In another development, he said that the work on the first phase of Rs 443 crore sewerage project in the city will begin on July 11.

Abohar, July 1
The efforts of the state government to provide canal water to tail-end villages located near the Rajasthan and Pakistan border suffered a major jolt today due to a 40- ft breachin the Panjawa sub-canal at about 4 am.

More than 400 acres of agricultural land, orchards, houses and a marriage venue were inundated. The gushing waters moved along the Abohar-Fazilka Road (NH 10). The affected farmers said they had suffered losses two years back for the same reason.

The farmers of the tail-end villages had staged a dharna at the Canal Colony here. A few weeks earlier, senior engineers had refrained fromgoing to their offices in the Canal Colony complex to avert a clash with the agitating farmers. Deputy M Sukhbir Singh Badal had a few months earlier laid the foundation stone of the project aimed to raise the side walls of the Panjawa sub-canal so as to release more water that would have ensured supply to tail-end villages.

The Irrigation Department had floated tenders for the project, but the contractor could not arrange enough labour to carry out the work expeditiously, said the farmers. Baljit Singh, Preet Singh, Krishan Kumar, Tek Singh, Nachhattar Singh and Ranjeet Singh said today they had lost their third Bt cotton standing crop in less than two months.

Earlier, the fresh sown crop got damaged due to hailstorm and rain.

A JE monitoring the plugging of the breach, said water supply from the Sotha headworks in Muktsar had been suspended. He claimed that many farmers had not availed of their turn for irrigation as fields no longer required water after heavy rain that had lashed the region on Wednesday and Thursday. The overflowing water, released as per the indent, caused the breach.

Haripur (Patiala), July 1
Farmers from villages on the Punjab-Haryana border today blocked traffic from 10.30 pm to 1 pm on the Patiala-Kaithal highway today in protest against the construction of the 3.75-km concrete wall along the Hansi-Butana canal embankment. They were led by sarpanch of Dharmeri village Kashmir Singh.

Crops on thousands of acres in six villages have been submerged in the Ghaggar waters due to heavy rain. With the water overflowing from the Mirpur seasonal rivulet, Haripur, Dhamheri, Magtan, Hassanpur, Sassi Gujaran and Sassi villages have been flooded. Crops in Nanina Khurd and Bhattian on the Patiala-Cheeka road have also been damaged. Farmers of the affected villages, claimed that crops on 3000-4000 acres of land had been damaged in the past few days. Former Sarpanch of Haripur village Jagtar Singh said: “Successive governments have failed to take up the case of Punjab with the Centre. Had Punjab approached the Supreme Court when the construction work of Hansi-Butana canal was started by Haryana in 2005, farmers of Punjab villages on the border with Haryana would not have to suffer the fury of the floods every year.” 

Ropar, July 1
Thirteen flood control rooms have been set up in the district for the rainy season. These will work round the clock till September 20. The Swan, Sarsa, Budhki, Siswan and Sagrao rivulets passing through the four subdivisions of Ropar. These carry water from parts of Himachal Pradesh and merge with the Sutlej, causing floods.

Also, a night vigil along the banks of rivers and canals has been ordered.

At least 40 evacaution centers have been identified in case of an emergency. The executive engineer,, drainage, Ropar, has been directed to install wireless sets at watch towers along the Swan, Sarsa and Budhki rivulets.

The police department has also been asked to install wireless sets at the flood control rooms.. Officials of the SYL have been directed to clean and repair all the siphons. Divers, boatmen and volunteers (mainly former servciemen) have been identified for help.

Night vigil along banks of rivers & canals ordered

SYL officials told to clean and repair all siphons

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Kapurthala , July 1
Former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh said that the Congress was preparing a chargesheet against the Akali-BJP government which would be released soon.

Without going into the details of the chargesheet, he said, it will list all the failures and the acts of omission and commission of the present government.

He said while everybody knows about what the Akalis and BJP have done, everything would be properly documented and placed on record, so that “tomorrow, they can be held accountable”.

The former Chief Minister was here to chair a meeting of party workers today. The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief reiterated that his current visits of assembly segments had nothing to do with the screening of candidates. He disclosed that there were a lot of suggestions which will be incorporated in the party manifesto.

The venue of the meeting turned out to be a battlefield for party leaders and workers. It was organised as a show of strength by ticket aspirants from Kapurthala, Bholath, Sultanpur Lodhi and Phagwara assembly constituencies.

Factionalism in the district unit of the Congress came to the fore as groups led by different leaders tried to stake their claim for the ticket from their respective constituencies.

There was complete chaos as workers of the PPCC, General Secretary Rana Gurjit Singh and district president Navtej Singh Cheema jostled for entry to the hall where Amarinder Singh was holding the meeting.

Former Congress minister Joginder Singh Mann could not enter as the door of the hall was bolted from inside.

Workers from Phagwara and Bholath raised slogans against Santosh Chaudhary, Congress MP from Hoshiarpur who was sitting beside Capt Amarinder Singh, for ignoring their constituencies. They alleged that the MP had been unfair in distributing the MPLAD fund and even did not return to these areas after being elected.

Sukhpal Singh Khaira, MLA Bholath, then came to the rescue of Mann and Cheema. When he tried to help them enter the hall, he was stopped by the security staff.

Khaira had to approach Amarinder following which the former Chief Minister came out and pacified the agitators.

The securitymen even did not spare mediapersons who had gone to the venue to cover the event.

Capt Amarinder Singh was accompanied by Arvind Khanna, PCC general secretary, Amarjeet Singh Samra, Rana Gurjit, Sukhpal Singh Khaira, Harbans Kaur, Harjit Singh Parmar and others.

Hoshiarpur, July 1
The Prime Minister should intervene to stop work on the 3.75 km wall along the Hansi Butana canal by Haryana and send a team of experts to assess the situation, said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal at Garhdiwala, near here, today.

He said the 16-ft-high Hansi Butana embankment, than ran parallel to the Punjab-Haryana border, obstructed the natural flow of water, thereby causing floods in Punjab, particularly in Patiala district.

He said he would be writting to the Prime Minster in this connection. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had already stayed further construction of the concrete wall. On the 51 achievements listed by Capt Amarinder Singh during the Congress regime from 2002-2007, Badal alleged that Amarinder was ”enemy number one” of Punjab.

Fatehgarh Sahib, July 1
The Drainage Department is yet to clean the drains in Fatehgarh Sahib. Clogged drains obstruct the flow of water, which enters the agricultural fields and residential areas during every rainy season.

At present there is no Junior Engineer (JE) in the department and the Fatehgarh Sahib SDO has been given an additional charge of maintainence of drains at Patiala.

The department officials said a portion of the Sirhind choe (rivulet) was cleaned using JCB machines a few months back, but wild growth could be seen again even before the onset of the monsoon.

Taking advantage of this, the villagers have encroached upon the parts of the drains and trees have also grown up in the drains, which hampers the cleaning work. “We have already written to the Forest Department to axe the trees, but nothing has been done to expedite the process,” said an official. The department officials said there was a major encroachment upon the Drainage Department’s land near Mulepur village. Due to absence of the senior officials, matter could not be taken with the district administration for clearing these encroachments,” he added.

The employees, given additional charge, said despite getting 13-km area out of 19-km stretch of the Sirhind choe cleaned in January, the wild plants have grown again on the rivulet bed. However, the areas near Bir Bhamarsi village and Mulepur were left due to the encroachment and the uprooted trees.

Though the Sirhind choe has 52-ft-long bed and 66-ft upper width, but it reduces to mere 25-ft bed and 35-ft upper width due to encroachment at certain points. The officials said they also cleaned 2-km area of the Bassian-Jhampur drain and repaired a temporary bridge near Powala village.

Admitting delay of 15 to 20 days in cleaning the drains due to lack of funds, XEN BPS Brar said Fatehgarh Sahib SDO Gurnam Singh was on medical leave for the past around one week and may not be able to attend the office for the next few days. “We have given additional charge to SDO Kuljeet Singh,” he said.

SDO Kuljeet Singh said he looks after the Khajur Mandi drain, Banur drain and Chhatbir Zoo drain. These drains are spread over the Banur, Rajpura, Dera Bassi, Lalru and the Baltana areas. He is given additional charge of Fatehgarh Sahib and is also supposed to look after Sirhind choe, Patiala Ki Rao, Bassian Jhampur drain in Fatehgarh Sahib and Model Town Drain in Patiala, besides drains at Bhadson and Nabha.

Last year, too, similar problem surfaced and instead of the Drainage Department, the officials of the PWD (B&R) were deployed to clean a portion of the Sirhind choe. 

Ludhiana, July 1
“There are many challenges ahead. For agriculture sustainability and bringing back the Green Revolution era, we have to use natural resources judiciously, conduct extensive research and work together as a team.

“We have to think out of the box...work hard with zeal to face the challenges,” said Dr Baldev Singh Dhillon, Vice Chancellor of Punjab Agriculture University, who took charge here today.

He said that contemporary agriculture was facing a variety of challenges pertaining to economy, ecology and society. The private sector had its strength in terms of fiscal resources, while PAU had competent scientific human resources.

Dr Dhillon said that there was a need to strengthen the outreach to farmers. “Collaboration with industry also has to be promoted,” he said.

Talking about the challenges before the PAU, Dr Dhillon said that defects in rice varieties need to be rectified. “If we have to export Basmati rice to the UK, USA, Middle East etc, the use of pesticides needs to be controlled immediately. Pakistanis are giving a tough competition to Indians in the global market in Basmati export and we need to adopt all the corrective measures to sustain our volume of export,” he said.

When asked whether Bt seeds were the right choice, Dr Dhillon said, “It is a debatable issue. A lot of research needs to be done on why and where these can be used. For example, in Punjab, cotton was able to hold its ground due to Bt seeds. There is a need to maintain a balance," he said.

The PAU VC said, “We have to reach out to the grassroots level i.e. farmers. At the same time, we have to generate academic knowledge of international standard.

“Efforts will be made to tide over financial constraints with the support of the government, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and by tapping other sources.”

Dr Dhillon said that discipline was a major ingredient in the success of all organisations Indian or foreign.

“My endeavour will be to motivate colleagues, recognise merit and instill confidence through team spirit," stressed Dr Dhillon adding that human resource development in India needs improvement.

"There is much confidence among the masses in Western countries and we need to generate similar confidence here," said Dr Dhillon.

Chandigarh, July 1
The Punjab Government has decided to set up 18 modern soil testing labs across the state to help farmers get the soil nutrients checked.

Punjab Agriculture Minister Sucha Singh Langah said the Agriculture Department would distribute 'Jantar' seeds among the farmers free of cost, through which green manure on 44,000 hectares would be produced. Adequate arrangements had been made to provide chemical manures to the farmers across the state.

He said 58 Soil Testing Labs were already operational in the state, out of which four mobile laboratories were functioning successfully. — TNS

Patiala, July 1
Instead of reaching a consensus on the issue of regularisation of the contractual PRTC employees, the conflict between the management and the employees is getting severe with none of the parties ready to bend their stance on the issue.

While 15 more employees courted arrest here today, the PRTC management informed that the employees could be regularised only if they applied for the posts advertised by the corporation.

Talking to The Tribune earlier in this regard, Managing Director of the PRTC Manvesh Singh informed that there was no rule under which the management could regularise the employees that were working on outsourcing. “If these workers apply for these posts, they could be regularised after completion of three years,” he added.

Meanwhile, chairman of District Welfare Committee Surjit Singh Rakhra, leader of People’s Party of Punjab Joga Singh Chappar, and Congress MLA from Ghanour Madan Lal Jalalpur met president of the protesting union Jasmer Singh today and inquired about his health. Chappar said the government was being unjust to these workers.

Patiala, July 1
With a view to provide more facilities to the patients, the Punjab Government has released a grant of Rs 20 crore for upgradation of the Government Rajindra Hospital, Patiala.

This was stated by chairman of the District Planning Committee Surjit Singh Rakhra while inaugurating the newly renovated high dependency emergency medical ward at the hospital.

“An amount of Rs 5.5 crore will be spent to establish a national physiotherapy workshop at the hospital and Rs 7.5 crore will be spent for the establishment of ultra-modern nursing college at the Medical College, Patiala,” he added.

The Rajendra Hospital is one of the oldest hospitals of the region and the condition of certain departments is pitiable due to old infrastructure.

Talking about the grant released by the government, Rakhra said the grant would be spent on the upgradation of the hospital as it was one of the best hospitals of the region and people from the far-off places come here for treatment.

“Keeping in mind the large influx of patients from poor economic background, the government has decided to ensure that the hospital was fully equipped with all the modern facilities so that people can come here for treatment rather than spending huge amounts in the private hospitals,” he added.

“The physiotheraphy workshop will be equipped with latest equipment and operation theatres. The Nursing College will be provided with latest equipment and teaching aid so that the students will get maximum working experience while studying here,” he added. Meanwhile, he also inaugurated a 6-bed ICU unit at the TB Hospital, Patiala. 

Cars, jeeps and vans: Rs 32 for single trip, Rs 48 for double

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Kharar, July 1
Three people, including a child, were killed and 14 injured in an accident near Daun Majra village on the Kharar-Kurali road today.

Labh Singh, a resident of Nuhon Colony, Ghanauli, Ropar, was returning from Mussoorie in a Safari car with his family. When they reached near Daun Majra village, a Sumo car coming from the opposite side hit their car.

Nine-year-old Isha died on the spot, while Labh Singh, Kuldip Singh, Jaswinder Kaur, Harpreet Kaur, Manpreet Kaur, Rajwant Kaur, Jyoti, Dheeraj Kumar and Murari Lal got injured. Kuldip Singh, who was driving the Safari car, was referred to the PGI, Chandigarh, and others were referred to the Ropar hospital.

The Sumo car passengers included the family of Kashmir Singh from Lahrauli village, Una, Himachal Pradesh. All of them were going to Haridwar. Kashmir and his sister Bishna Devi died on the spot, while Usha, Beena, Shalu Thakur, Kishna Devi and Rajinder Kumar, alias Nishu, sustained serious injuries. Kashmir was driving the vehicle. The injured were taken to the Kharar civil hospital in a serious condition and were later referred to the PGI, Chandigarh.

The investigation officer said the cause of the accident could not be ascertained as one of the drivers was dead, while others were in serious condition. The police has registered a case against Kuldip Singh on the complaint of Shalu Thakur.

In an another incident, 25-year-old Simarpal, a resident of Dasmesh Nagar, died last night. Simar was working at a call centre at Mohali.

After returning home last night, he complained of dizziness and vomited. His parents took him to the Government Hospital, sector 16, Chandigarh, where doctors declared him dead on arrival. The police has initiated probe under Section 174 of the CrPc.