Bathinda, February 23
For the second consecutive weekend, heavy rains lashed Bathinda and its adjoining areas throwing normal life out of gear. After basking in bright sunshine through the week, the city was left awash by heavy rains in the wee hours of Saturday.

As per the agri-met department of the PAU regional station, Bathinda, mercury’s various moods can be attributed to the Western Disturbances which remain active from October to May.

The higher reaches of the Himalayan region received fresh snowfall during the past two days causing the temperature in the Northern plains to dip.

The Jammu-Kashmir National Highway was closed for the second consecutive day on Saturday after a fresh spell of snowfall.

Bathinda received 14.0 mm of rainfall on Saturday while the rainfall was recorded at 5.8 mm on Friday.

The city residents also had to brave winds blowing at a velocity of 10.5 kmph. On Friday, the winds blew at the rate of 8.5 kmph.

Due to incessant rains, the temperature dipped tremendously. On Saturday, the maximum temperature was recorded at 15.4 degree Celsius and the minimum temperature was recorded at 13.2 degree Celsius.

The humidity level was recorded at 100 per cent in the morning and by the afternoon it, had dipped to 82 per cent.

The maximum temperature on Friday was recorded at 21.4 degree Celsius while the minimum was 13 degree Celsius.

There was a marked difference in the weather conditions recorded on Thursday when the maximum and minimum temperatures were recorded at 17 and 7.6 degree Celsius, respectively.

As per the weather forecast issued by the Indian Meteorological Department for the next three days, rain/ thundershowers would occur at many places over Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and west Uttar Pradesh during the next 24 hours and the weather is expected to remain mainly dry thereafter.

Auto drivers, rickshaw pullers make a killing

Taking advantage of continuous rains, the auto drivers and the rickshaw pullers in the city made a killing today.

The passengers travelling to Bathinda by train were fleeced by the rickshaw pullers and auto drivers. "I usually pay Rs 30 from Bathinda Junction to Vishal Nagar but this morning, since it was raining heavily, I had to shell out Rs 100 for an auto ride. The rickshawallahs were asking for Rs 60,” said a resident of Vishal Nagar.

“I had to go to the MCB office on the Railway Road for an urgent work. While some rickshaw pullers flatly refused to go there, others were demanding much more than any other day. I had to pay Rs 50 for the journey. They were fleecing other passengers as well,” said Asha Bhatia, a resident of Veer Colony.

Bathinda, February 23
Continuous rains, coupled with high velocity winds and hailstorm in many villages of Bathinda have left the farmers sitting with their fingers crossed.

While the officials of the agriculture department asked the farmers not to press the panic button, potato farmers fear the onset of blight and other farmers are scared of damage to their crops due to the deluge.

Farmers also fear that the rains may spoil the standing wheat crop as it may lead to yellow rust if unfavourable weather conditions persist.

Iqbal Singh of Gumti village near Rampura said although it is the harvesting season for potatoes, labourers have discontinued work due to heavy rains.

“Farmers who have already cut the potato shoot to harvest the crop are even more worried as water may enter the potatoes lying under the soil. Even in the case where the shoot has not been cut, there is a fear of the blight disease attacking the shoot,” Iqbal said.

He added that since last night, 22 mm rainfall had been recorded in his village.

Jagtar Singh Brar, a progressive farmer from Mehma Sarja village, said the exact damage to the potato crop would be assessed only after a week from now. He added that at least 10 to 20 per cent of the total crop must have been damaged.

"As per the weather forecast, rains are anticipated next week as well and the situation will get worse then,” Jagtar said.

Jagtar added that his village had witnessed 16 mm rainfall since last night and last Saturday the village had received 49 mm rain.

Farmers said they feared potato glut in the market in the coming days as all the farmers would begin harvesting once the weather clears.

The farmers from Nehianwala, Bir Behman and Rampura said they were busy draining out water from their fields. The kinnow growers said the per kilogram rate of the fruit had come down to Rs 12 to Rs 13 and the best quality kinnow was being sold at Rs 15 per kilogram.

Avtar Singh said the expensive seeds of vegetables, sown in January, were damaged by the deluge. "If the weather clears in a day or two, there will not be any damage to the wheat or else it may invite yellow rust,” Avtar said.

Chief Agriculture Officer, Rajinder Brar said while a few low-lying agricultural fields might get affected due to rains, the overall picture was positive after the rains so far.

The total area under wheat cultivation in Bathinda is nearly 2.54 lakh hectares and the area under potato cultivation is nearly 6000 hectares.

Bathinda, February 23
The Municipal Corporation Bathinda (MCB) will soon finalise the rates of property tax to be imposed within the municipal limits from April 1 onwards.

The MCB has received around 20 objections from public. While some of the objections oppose the property tax altogether, others have suggested formulae for revision of rates other than the prevalent collectorate rates.

In one of the objections filed, municipal councillor Jagrup Singh Gill has stated that the property tax should not be imposed on agricultural land in the city, vacant plots, self-possessed property and the commercial property that remained unoccupied.

"People are already reeling under a lot of financial constraints. In the cases of commercial properties, many a times the property remains unoccupied and there is no source of income from the same. On the lines of house tax, the property tax should not be imposed on the establishments that remain vacant,” he said.

President of the Cloth Market Association, Satpal echoed Gill's concern and added that the MCB did not properly publicise the invitation of objections to the property tax.

"The business sector is facing a slump. Already, we have been hit by a number of taxes and the property tax is an additional burden on us. As per an estimate, anyone paying Rs 10,000 house tax will have to pay Rs 60,000 to Rs 61,000 as property tax. Since the MCB did not properly seek objections and suggestions, we could not file the same on time," he said.

The MCB has to decide rates of property tax before March 31 as the same has to be applied by April 1. Already, the municipal limits have been divided into eight zones and the property tax rates have been calculated as per the collectorate rates of property in these zones.

The eight zones have been notified in descending order starting from the most developed (having all basic amenities) to those with the least facilities.

Earlier, the government had sought objections to zoning. It then sought objections to the rate of property tax. These objections were to be filed by February 11.

Municipal commissioner Uma Shankar Gupta said all the objections will be taken up soon and the rates will be decided to meet with the deadline set by the government. 

Bathinda, February 23
Civil surgeons across the state have been directed to complete the second phase of cancer survey by March 31. The directions were issued during a meeting held under the health secretary, Punjab, at Chandigarh last week.

Sources said the civil surgeons have been asked to expedite the second phase of the cancer survey so that the confirmed as well as the suspected patients, identified during the first phase of the survey, could be taken to health care centres for treatment.

Though the second phase officially began on February 15, a lot of time of the health authorities went into mobilising and training the staff deputed for the purpose.

"We had to provide health workers with a computerised list of identified cases, teach them how to fill forms, sensitise them on ways to convince patients to go for treatment and to take them to health facilities," health officials said.

They added that the first official figures and listings would start pouring in from the next 
week onwards thereby giving a clearer picture of the exercise.

However, Bathinda Civil Surgeon, Dr Ajay Sahni, said the March 31 deadline was not meant to be strictly adhered to. "It is not possible to cover so many patients in such a short span of time. March 31 has been suggested as a possible date to complete the exercise with a margin of 10 to 20 days," he said.

It may be mentioned that the door-to-door symptom-based cancer detection survey conducted in the district had found 3,488 suspected cases and 1,596 confirmed or cured cases. As many as 2,040 persons died of the ailment in the last five years.

The symptom-based survey revealed that 1,942 persons suffered from cancer-like symptoms in the rural areas and around 1,546 such cases were detected in the urban areas. Similarly, more cancer deaths have been reported in the rural areas.

In rural pockets, including areas of Goniana, Bhagta, Nathana, Ballianwali, Sangat and Talwandi Sabo, 1,389 cancer deaths have been reported in the last five years. However, the figure stood at 651 for the urban areas.

Bathinda, February 23
As many as 143 cases were settled during the monthly Lok Adalat, organised by the Punjab Legal Services Authority at the District Courts Complex here today. Compensation to the tune of `1.53 crore was awarded in different cases.

Eight benches were constituted to sort out differences and solve disputes, including civil as well as those related to accident claims.

District Bar Association president Ranjit Jalal said family disputes wherein petty issues were blown out of proportion were also taken up during the Lok Adalat. He said efforts were made to sort out the differences between the mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law and husbands and wives.

He said in a dowry case, an elderly woman along with her daughters refused to reach a compromise with the daughter-in-law despite repeated counselling by experts. This, when they admitted their mistake and even felt sorry.

Jalal said the daughter-in-law was a school teacher while the other family members were semi-literate. The elderly mother-in-law stated that since her daughter-in-law had already made the family members see the precincts of a jail they would never accept her again. The daughter-in-law had got a case of dowry and harassment registered against her mother-in-law, sisters-in-law and husband.

"The elderly woman refused to forget and forgive even as the daughter-in-law expressed a desire to reach a compromise. We tried our best to resolve the issue but in vain. We will give it another try," Jalal said.

The woman said she would not bequeath anything from her property to her only son due to the alleged wrongdoings of his wife. She said she would donate her property to some religious body but would not let it be inherited by her son, daughter-in-law or grandson.

Jalal said there were some cases which they had handled properly but at times, parents refused to forget the petty issues.

District and Sessions' Judge-cum-chairman of the Legal Services Authority Jaspal Singh, judges Sukhdev Singh, DS Johal, Lachhman Singh, HS Lekhi, Jasbir Kaur, Deepti Goyal and HL Kumar presided over the eight benches.

The District and Sessions’ Judge said people should avail of the benefits offered by the District Legal Services Authority and get their cases settled at Lok Adalats.

The president of the Bar Association Ranjit Singh, secretary Gurwinder Mann, vice-president Sunil Tripathi, advocates Surinderpal Singh and Manpreet Singh, Rajnish Rampal, Bhupinder Singh, Jasjeetpal, Jagmohan, a social worker Gurminderpal, Kamal Garg, KK Goyal and Father Ivo Dias from the Saint Xavier's Senior Secondary School were among those who attended the Lok Adalat.

Bathinda, February 23
Four persons, including a couple and its two children, were injured in a roof collapse at Mohalla Kikardas situated behind the Government Rajindra College here today.

Volunteers of the Sahara Jan Sewa, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), rushed the injured family members to the Civil Hospital.

Their condition is stated to be out of danger.

The incident took place at around 2.15 pm, reportedly due to the continuous rains since last night.

It is learnt that Manjit Singh, his wife Ramanjeet Kaur and son Manpreet Singh were trying to plug seepage in the roof while the couple’s daughter, Neha Rani, was in the house when all of sudden the roof came down leaving four of them hurt.

Area residents rushed to the rescue of the injured family members on hearing the sound of the roof collapsing. The NGO was informed following which its ambulances along with the volunteers reached the spot and rushed the injured to the hospital.

Bathinda, February 23
The candidates selected for the posts of junior engineers (JEs) and assistant engineers (AEs) at the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) have demanded that the Powercom should recruit the 99 per cent of the candidates who did not make use of any unfair means during the exam conducted in June last year.

According to the details available, some candidates had moved court alleging that unfair means were used in the examination hall.

Quoting the report of the DIG Punjab State Cyber Crime, Mohali, submitted before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the candidates said out of the 14,000 candidates who appeared for the exam, eight might have used unfair means.

The report states that many candidates appearing in the examination remained in touch with outsiders on mobile phone through SMS or MMS as the tower location of their mobile phones was the same. The report established that the question papers of JE (Electrical) and AE (Electrical) were leaked and some of the candidates had received illegal assistance on mobile phones.

"Among the eight identified, only three or four qualified the exam. Among them were those who were already working with the PSPCL. With the Powercom deciding to scrap the entire examination, seemingly to shield its employees, the future of the rest of the untainted candidates has been put at stake," said one of the candidates.

They said many selected employees have left their jobs as they were called by the Powercom for document verification. The process required original documents, which they had deposited with their previous employers.

They added that the future of more than 740 selected candidates is at stake.

The exam for the posts of junior engineers and assistant engineers was conducted in June 2012.

The result of the exam was declared on July 27.

Verification of documents of the selected candidates began from August 6.

The recruitment procedure stayed following the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on August 8, 2012, on a petition filed by certain candidates who couldn't clear the test.

The Vigilance wing of the PSPCL conducted the inquiry first and later, handed over the case to the cyber crime cell of the Punjab Police.

The cyber crime cell submitted its report to the PSPCL on January 22, 2013.

The PSPCL submitted both the reports to the High Court on February 19, 2013.

Bathinda, February 23
A day after Rs 7.80 lakh were stolen from the ATM of the Punjab National Bank on Bibiwala Road, police formed teams to locate the culprits.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ravcharan Singh Brar said he would visit the site of crime on Sunday to find some more clues. He added that he was keen on cracking the case soon. He said the footage of the CCTV, installed at the ATM, procured by the police had given some crucial leads and policemen had been pressed into action to work on those leads to arrest the culprits.

An unidentified person had stolen the money after cracking the digital codes of the ATM machine. The accused could not be identified on the CCTV footage as he was wearing a monkey cap and dark glasses.

DSP Ranjeet Singh, who is investigating the case, said call details of various cell phones, addresses and other things were being scrutinised and efforts were on to obtain more clues.

"We would soon catch those involved in the crime. Sriganganagar police have already arrested some persons involved in a similar criminal activity and we may also get in touch with them soon," the DSP said.

Policemen said the services of the CIA staff too had been obtained and the police may reach at some conclusion in the coming days.

Bathinda, February 23
The police has arrested a resident of Mehma Sarkari village with 3.5 kg of poppy husk. The accused, Harnek Singh, was arrested from near the bus stand.

Bathinda, February 23
Police have registered a case against three persons, Amna, Dara and Debi of Kachi Colony, Thermal, for molesting a woman from Janta Nagar.

In her complaint to the police, the woman said the accused sought tobacco from her when she was crossing a street. When refused, the accused caught hold of her and molested. She also sustained injuries.

A case under Sections 323, 341, 354 and 506 of the IPC has been registered against the accused at Canal Colony police station. — TNS