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Roads turn into rivulets in Paras Ram Nagar
Search for ‘Doot’ proving to be a tall order for PAU
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Hearing in Lal Singh Basti sewer case on Sept 10
DGSE issues guidelines for child care leave
Four-yr-old drowns in sarovar
Gold earrings snatched
Surprise check at Central Jail
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Roads turn into rivulets in Paras Ram Nagar
Bathinda, August 28 Mocking at the claims of the Municipal Corporation Bathinda (MCB) and the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board (PWSSB) that they had adequately prepared for the monsoon, Vijay Kumar operated the boat on the streets of the locality that had knee-deep water and even helped some schoolchildren reach their homes. The waterlogged streets made it impossible for the people to cross the road and reach their destinations without getting sullied in the muck. Children below five years of age had to be carried across the road. In 1998, the existing municipal council had laid a separate rain water disposal in the area at the cost of Rs 32 lakhs. Pipes were laid from the main road in Paras Ram Nagar, and then taken across the Sirhind canal where water was siphoned off on government land on Behman road where the ash from the thermal plant is dumped. "Seven years back, there was no waterlogging in the area. Water was drained out within two hours after rainfall had occurred and there was no problem. Suddenly, despite our protests, the corporation joined the sewer of the nearby areas with the rainwater disposal, thereby putting too much load on it," said Vijay Kumar. A sitting municipal councillor of the area suggested that the trans-railway line area should have a separate sewer disposal, water supply and sewerage treatment plant (STP) system. "We have panchayat as well as government land on Multania road that can be utilized to set up an STP as well as water supply units. This would not burden the upcoming STP on Mansa road and would be a great relief for lakhs of people living in these localities," he reasoned. The councilor added that in case of an exigency, if any sewer pipeline gets damaged, it would not affect the separate sewer network meant for the areas beyond the railway line. It is pertinent to mention here that the state government is already mulling a Rs 119 crore plan for laying the sewer and water supply lines in these areas. The feasibility study for the project is being carried out. Municipal Commissioner Uma Shankar Gupta said water from Paras Ram Nagar and the other areas could not be drained out completely as the motors installed at the Alam Basti pumping station had gone out of order. "When it rained heavily on Sunday, the two motors of 75 HP each went out of order and were replaced with a 25 HP motor. Since the new motor could not pump out water effectively, it led to the streets getting inundated. The motors have been sent for repair and would be re-installed within two days," he said. Meanwhile, ex-MLA Harminder Singh Jassi of the Congress alleged that crores spent on the sewer had failed to yield any result. Jassi added that the people living across the railway lines were facing hardships due to the inefficiency of the government. Fact file
55.4 mm of rainfall was recorded on Sunday and Monday. Tuesday's rainfall recorded was between 10 mm to 12 mm in the city, while the temperature was 32.2 degree Celsius. |
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Search for ‘Doot’ proving to be a tall order for PAU
Bathinda, August 28 The agricultural experts at the PAU extension counter in Bathinda said they have been told to identify one person in each village of the district who has the e-mail facility, either on his computer or in his mobile phone. "So far, we have managed to identify just 40 farmers in 287 villages of the district. Twenty of them have started functioning and are receiving e-mails on a daily basis. The e-mails update them about the latest techniques, use of fertilizers and other activities related to agriculture," said JS Brar, in-charge of the Farm Advisory Service Scheme (FASS) at Bathinda. He pointed out that though 187 applications have been received by the farmers from various villages, they are yet to get the internet connection. He said the 20 farmers identified so far have been getting the e-mails on a regular basis for the last one month. Brar said the university is in the process of searching for experts and has urged the farmers in remote areas to avail of the benefits of the scheme. The scheme is quite useful for the farmers, if implemented properly, he said, adding that the ambassador or "Doot" would get the details about the new trends and the information will percolate down to the other farmers of his village using various modes of communication and the public address system. "The process of providing perks to the ambassadors too may be added to the scheme. But so far, no written communiqué has been received in this regard," Brar said. He said the aim of the scheme is to benefit the farmers by providing them with the current information and receive a feedback. The officials said lack of technological advancements leads to a delay in the proper implementation of the scheme. The experts said that initially, a dual system has been adopted by the authorities wherein information may be sent to the farmers both by the university and the officials of the extension counter. The focus is on dissemination of information for the betterment of the farmers. Initially, it was decided that text messages or e-mails with short messages would be dispatched to the farmers, the experts said. They added that the farmers would be advised on the appropriate use of inputs, judicious use of fertilizers besides other aspects during all stages of the growth of crops. Fact file
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Hearing in Lal Singh Basti sewer case on Sept 10
Bathinda, August 28 Among those who appeared before the court included the SDO, Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board (PWSSB), the standing counsel for the municipal corporation, the public prosecutor and a lawyer representing the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB). September 10 has been fixed as the next date of hearing wherein the plaintiffs may plead before the court to direct the defendants to implement the alternate relief measures suggested to bring some respite for the residents of the area who are suffering due to the incomplete sewer work. Residents of the area, NK Jeet, Rajneesh Kumar Rana, Sweety Mehra, Guriqbal Singh Chahal, Satvir Singh Dhanoa, Narinder Pal Singh and Baljinder Singh, had moved the court requesting its interference in getting the sewer work at Lal Singh Basti completed. For the last one year, the sewer is being laid at Lal Singh Basti and it is still far from complete. The work involves connecting the newly-laid sewer of ward number 31 and 38 of Lal Singh Basti with the disposal work. NK Jeet said that in view of the last assembly elections, the project was started in a haphazard manner, completely ignoring the technical and logistic requirements. While the sewer line is not connected with any disposal work, a large number of houses from the Peerkhana to Gurudwara Sahib on Lal Singh Basti Road have been given new sewerage connections and connected with this sewer line, adding to the chaos. Earlier, the garbage of Police Colony, which has about 400 residential
quarters, was being discharged through a direct sewer line at a point near Dhillon's Mor. But now, this sewer line has been disconnected and the entire garbage of Police Colony is being dumped into the newly-laid
sewer line, which has no connection with any disposal work, and this has added to the problem. |
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Farmers take diseased Plants to Agri offices
Bathinda, August 28 Gursewak Singh, along with another farmer from nearby Jodhpur Romana village, today brought samples of some affected cotton plants in the office of agriculture experts. The department officials, replying to the queries put up by the farmers, admitted that they were finding it difficult to conduct field visits owing to staff shortage. "Taking note of our problem, the farmers now simply extract a sample of the affected plants and bring it to our offices so as to diagnose the problem," the experts said. "Leaves of this plant droop and the plant fails to bear fruit. It is just a sample of the plant and the problem is acute in the entire village," Gursewak told an expert at his office. The latter replied, "The plant is attacked by white fly and the requisite pesticide is to be sprayed in the entire field so as to get rid of the problem." The farmers informed the agricultural experts that they had already sprayed agro-chemicals on the plants but failed to overcome the disease. An expert, KK Singla, told farmers to use only those chemicals that have been recommended by the department. He advised them to use Triazophos (600 ml per acre) and Ethion (800 ml per acre) on alternate basis to reduce the affect of the sucking pest, which attacks the cotton crop between July and September. He said the attack affects the yield of the crop. "Though heavy rains help in getting rid of the white fly, farmers are advised to spray chemicals so that they may overcome the problem at the earliest," Singla said. Agriculture Department officials said there were only a handful of agriculture development officers in the department against the sanctioned strength. Similarly, the horticulture department officials rued that there were two horticulture development officers (HDO) in the department while 11 officials were sanctioned. One of the two HDOs is on leave for three months. Three sub-inspectors, who are supposed to assist the HDOs, have been deputed at the Rampura Government Nursery, an orchard at Jiwan Singh Wala village near Talwandi Sabo and at the Government Potato Seed Farm in Harnam Singhwala village near Rampura. Three class-IV employees of the department, who were once deputed at the election office, did not return despite repeated reminders. The post of assistant director is lying vacant for the past long time. An official working at Sangrur has been given the additional charge of the deputy director here. The official too is due to retire on August 31. The only HDO of the department said either the farmers come with their problems or they consult him over his cell phone. The department officials said though the state government was blowing the trumpet of diversification, the departments of agriculture and horticulture were facing acute staff crunch due to which farmers could not be provided with proper guidance and advice. |
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Burj Mehma villagers sensitised to legal rights
Bathinda, August 28 Kanwaljit Singh said there was a law that safeguards women against domestic violence. Any violation could attract imprisonment for an year and Rs 20,000 as fine. He said to provide expeditious justice to people at an extremely low litigation charge, Lok Adalats were held on the last Saturday of a month wherein all kind of civil cases can be brought for hearing. He added that it was not necessary to wait for Lok Adalat for the entire month to get amicably-settled matters passed. "Special Lok adalat could be convened for such cases," he said. He added that the DLSA holds seminars and legal literacy camps on various issues and even legal aid clinics were being opened in different villages. During the camp, legal literature was also distributed among villagers. |
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DGSE issues guidelines for child care leave
Bathinda, August 28 The child care leave, which is additional to the earned leave, could be availed of for the first two children only. It can be availed of when a child, studying abroad, has to undertake an exam or has fallen ill. In the case of exam, a certificate from the education institute concerned would have to be produced while in the case of illness, a medical certificate from authorised doctor from whom the child was taking treatment, was required. During 80 per cent of their leave period, women employees will have to stay at the destination mentioned in their leave application. Any earlier leave will not be adjusted against child care leave under any circumstances. Also no leave or travel allowance (LTC) can be availed of during the child care leave period as the leave was meant for a specific purpose. The leave would be considered in two to three spell but more than three spells would not be allowed in one calendar year. If a leave spell starts in December and ends on month of next year, it would be considered as one spell. Leave of less than 15 days will not be allowed. The leave shall not be allowed to daily labourers, work charged and contractual employees. Also, any woman official, who was facing a disciplinary action, will not be allowed to avail of the child care leave. |
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Four-yr-old drowns in sarovar
Bathinda, August 28 Five booked for theft
Material worth nearly Rs 33,000 was stolen from two different places. In a complaint to the police, one Amandeep Singh of Jeeda village said two thieves, identified as Daler Khan and Jarnail Singh, had stolen mobile phone and computer from his shop. He claimed that the total cost of the stolen material was Rs 25,000. A case under Sections 457 and 380 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered against the accused at the Nehianwala police station. In another incident, the police has booked Leela Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Billa Singh of Kotfatta village for stealing Rs 8,000 from the ‘golak’ of the village gurdwara. The police has booked the accused persons under Sections 457 and 380 of the IPC at the Kotfatta police station on the complaint of the granthi of the gurdwara, Jaswinder Singh. Five booked for beating
The police has booked five persons for beating up a resident of Sangat Kalan village. In a complaint to the police, Gurcharan Singh said his son Harbans Singh was beaten up by Bhullar Singh, Sambu, Rinku, Bittu and Amreek at Kotguru village. A case has been registered against the accused under Sections 323, 341, 506, 148 and 149 of the IPC at Sangat police station. |
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Gold earrings snatched
Bathinda, August 28 Kanta, 76, a resident of street number 4 of Nai Basti, reported to the police that two unidentified youths stopped her to enquire about an address. As she was answering their query, the duo snatched her gold earrings and fled. According to the victim, the gold was worth half tola in weight. Police has lodged a complaint. |
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Surprise check at Central Jail
Bathinda, August 28 It is pertinent to mention here that a large quantity of incriminating drugs had been recovered from the jail premises on earlier occasions, but this time the authorities failed to find any such substance. |
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