B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

Row persists over gurudwara land
Ferozepur, November 1
The controversy over the demolition of a gurudwara constructed on panchayat land in village Fatehgarh Gehri under the Guruharsahai sub-division acquired a political hue today with Sikh organizations along with several political parties including the Congress and SAD (Amritsar), both of which perhaps shared the stage for the first time, organising a massive dharna in front of the DC office in protest against the incident.
Various Sikh organisations besides Congress and SAD (Amritsar) took part in the protest outside the DC office in Ferozepur on Thursday. A Tribune photograph

Farmers plan to observe ‘black Diwali’
Muktsar, November 1
A majority of the farmers in Muktsar district have decided not to celebrate Diwali this year as a mark of protest against the state as well as the central governments for their indifferent attitude towards the problems being faced by them.

Jurisdiction spat delays shifting of body by cops
Abohar, November 1
Even after senior police officials of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan had advised the station house officers (SHOs) in the inter-state border segments to be more sensitive to the bodies found in the canal system, it took a day for the police to shift the mutilated body of a girl, who appeared to be in her early twenties, to the Nehru Memorial Civil Hospital here.

Row persists over gurudwara land
Our Correspondent

Ferozepur, November 1
The controversy over the demolition of a gurudwara constructed on panchayat land in village Fatehgarh Gehri under the Guruharsahai sub-division acquired a political hue today with Sikh organizations along with several political parties including the Congress and SAD (Amritsar), both of which perhaps shared the stage for the first time, organising a massive dharna in front of the DC office in protest against the incident.

Demanding a high-level inquiry into the incident, Congress MLA Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi said the incident took place at the behest of people belonging to the ruling SAD just to settle political scores as the sarpanch of the village where the gurudwara is situated belonged to the Congress.

Sodhi alleged that some local police officials posted in Guruharsahai were also involved in the incident. Sodhi said he has also informed Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal about the matter.

The controversy had erupted after the gurudwara in village Fatehpur Sikri was brought down by some unidentified persons a few weeks ago.

Prominent among those who participated in the protest today were Baljit Singh Daduwal, Bhai Mohkam Singh, convener, Khalsa Action Committee, former MP Bhai Dhian Singh Mand, Jathedar Satnam Singh Munawa, Baba Avtar Singh, Sant Baba Bohar Singh Tuttawale, Baba Baldev Singh Damdami Taksal besides Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, Congress MLA from Guruharsahai, along with his party workers.

Daduwal announced that the "Panj Piaras" will lay the foundation of the new building of the gurudwara at the same spot on November 5.

Former MP from Ferozepur, Bhai Dhian Singh, alleged that the demolition was carried out in connivance with the civil and police officials who remained a mute spectator to the entire incident.

Massive security arrangements had been made keeping in view today's protest so as to avoid any untoward incident.

Farmers plan to observe ‘black Diwali’
Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Muktsar, November 1
A majority of the farmers in Muktsar district have decided not to celebrate Diwali this year as a mark of protest against the state as well as the central governments for their indifferent attitude towards the problems being faced by them.

The activists of the Bharti Kisan Union (Lakhowal) have already started a campaign and are approaching the others to for support.

Mahinder Singh Lakhewali, district president of the union, said, "During the festival of lights, we have decided not to light a single lamp as a mark of protest against the attitude of both the central and the state government."

Sharing the plight of farmers, he said, "First, the Centre failed to provide any compensation to the farmers of Punjab, who produced a record quantity of paddy despite the drought like situation this year. Second, the state government failed to streamline the arrangements for procurement. Taking advantage of this, the rice mill owners fleeced the farmers after purchasing the paddy below the minimum support price (MSP), which caused huge losses to the farmers."

Similarly, Surinder Singh, a farmer of Lundewala village in Gidderbaha sub-division, said, "Diwali brings good cheer for everyone, but we are still unhappy as our produce is lying in the mandis. The government has failed to help the farmers. If the situation prevails for another week, the farmers of Muktsar, who are already staging protests, will have no other option but to intensify their stir."

It may be mentioned here that the farmers of Muktsar district have already blocked the roads nearly 20 times in the last one month demanding the streamlining of the procurement process.

Meanwhile, the agriculture department here today issued an advisory for the farmers to adopt eco-friendly agricultural practices like paddy straw management, which can prove to be a boon for the beleaguered peasantry.

Chief Agriculture Officer, Muktsar, Beant Singh, stated in the advisory that the farmers can supplement their income by adopting new eco-friendly techniques for the paddy straw management by either ploughing the paddy straw deep in the field or making bales of straw with the help of the baler machine.

"These straw bales give immense benefit to the farmers as they are in high demand by the biomass-based power plants established to produce additional power in the state. The utilisation of the waste agricultural product also contributes to making a clean and green environment," added Beant Singh.

He further said the burning of straw produces an adverse impact on the fertility of the soil For the baling of the paddy straw, there are three machines which work one after the other. First, small pieces of straw are made in the field reaper. Then, the tractor operated rack machine collects the straw and finally, the tractor operated straw baler machine makes bales of straw.

The yield of bales per acre is approximately 20 quintals. These are purchased by biomass-based power plants at the rate of Rs 110 per quintal. Paddy straw baler can make bales of 15-20 acres of straw daily.

Huge amount of carbon is found in the paddy straw and when the farmers burn it, the carbon contained in the paddy straw mainly gets released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.

The percentage of carbon dioxide emitted of the total carbon in the rice straw is in the range of 57-81 per cent, followed by carbon mono-oxide, i.e. 5-9 per cent. Carbon dioxide causes global warming while carbon monooxide is a poisonous gas. Smoke emitted during straw burning also contains methane, nitrous oxide and some other hazardous gases. Many a time, it can be the reason behind road and fire accidents. 

Jurisdiction spat delays shifting of body by cops
Our Correspondent

Abohar, November 1
Even after senior police officials of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan had advised the station house officers (SHOs) in the inter-state border segments to be more sensitive to the bodies found in the canal system, it took a day for the police to shift the mutilated body of a girl, who appeared to be in her early twenties, to the Nehru Memorial Civil Hospital here.

The volunteers of an NGO had informed the police about the recovery of the body yesterday in the afternoon. It had been chewed by stray dogs when farmers noticed the body in the sub-canal that passes through Dhaani Wazir Chand on the Abohar-Kandhwala Amarkot road.

Police arrived but dispute arose over the jurisdiction. Meanwhile, people stood guard to prevent further damage to the body by stray animals.

Finally, the men in khaki today came to the conclusion that the place where the body was found falls under the jurisdiction of the Sadar police. The cops then shifted the body to the Civil Hospital for autopsy where it will be preserved in the mortuary for three days awaiting identification.

Notably, the Rajasthan ADGP had also advised the Punjab Police to fish out bodies instead of allowing them to flow to Sriganganagar or Hanumangarh since investigation in the Punjab area would help in nabbing those involved in the crime. Most bodies found floating in the canal remain unidentified and are cremated by the local authorities.