B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

Rural sports event to see politics at play
Faridkot, September 15
After the religious Melas in the area acquiring a political colour, now an annual rural sports event is the latest to fall prey to political competition between the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Faridkot.

Illegal colonies: PUDA threatens to lodge criminal cases against ‘unidentified’ colonisers
Faridkot, September 15
To bring all unauthorised colonies under the planning, framework, the district administration and revenue department is putting pressure on the colonisers to pay composition and regularisation fees or face music with criminal case against them.

10 days on, accused in school girl rape case elude arrest
Abohar, September 15
The sub-divisional police has not been able to arrest any of the three accused who were booked under Sections 363, 366A, 376 and 120B of the IPC in connection with alleged rape of a school girl.

Six killed in separate accidents
Abohar, September 15
Binder Singh, 50, a resident of village Bahawalbasi near here, was run over by a passenger train while crossing the railway track last night. In another incident, Sumitra Devi of village Kallarkhera succumbed to burns that she received after her clothes caught fire when she was preparing tea, family sources said.

Rural sports event to see politics at play
SAD, PPCC chiefs to preside over annual rural sports mela at different times
Balwant Garg
Tribune News Service

Faridkot, September 15
After the religious Melas in the area acquiring a political colour, now an annual rural sports event is the latest to fall prey to political competition between the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Faridkot.

These days, the Congress and the Akali leaders in Faridkot are trading charges to take control of an annual rural sports mela as the leaders of both the political parties have plans to invite their party presidents, Sukhbir Singh Badal and Partap Singh Bajwa, to preside over the sports event.

The annual sport mela is organised at Dhimanwali village in the memory of Baba Fakkar Dass, a Sufi saint. Earlier, a sports club had been organising a state-level three-day event for the last 42 years.

As most office-bearers of this sports club are persons connected to Congress, this has been much to the chagrin of the Akalis who dominate the panchayat in the village.

After an Akali candidate was elected sarpanch in Dhimanwali two months back, the Akalis announced that they will organise their independent sports event and Punjab Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal will preside over the concluding day function on September 28.

The Akalis said the three-day sports event will start on September 26.

The announcement left the Congress leaders in the area sulking. They claimed for the last 42 years, the sports event always started on May 23 and concluded on May 25.

“To extract political mileage from this religious-cum-sports event, the Akali leaders arbitrarily changed the dates,” said Kushaldeep Dhillon, former MLA and general secretary, Punjab Congress.

"Baba Fakkar Dass Sports Club in the village has been organising this sports event on these dates without fail. As Punjab Congress president, Partap Singh Bajwa is to preside over the prize distribution function, so the Akalis are trying to play spoilsport at the event,” alleged Dhillon.

However, Kultar Singh, chairman, Zila Parishad, Faridkot, and the younger brother of parliamentary secretary Mantar Brar, said the date of the sports event was fixed as per the Nanakshahi calendar. "There was no political agenda in the scheduling of the programme," he said.

Kushaldeep Dhillon alleged that besides changing the time, the Akalis put pressure on the district administration not to allow the holding of the programme on May 23-25.

"The district administration did not give us permission to use loudspeakers and declined police help in organising the event. Even the phamphlets and other publicity material for the event were snatched by the police from a printing press to sabotage the event," alleged Kushaldeep Dhillon.

NS Brar, SDM, Faridkot repudiated the allegations, saying the permission to use loudspeakers and police help is provided on the basis of reports submitted by the police.

Any attempt to politicise the sports event is absolutely counter-productive and contradict the very spirit of this annual event, said Dilabar Singh, president of the sports club.

Illegal colonies: PUDA threatens to lodge criminal cases against ‘unidentified’ colonisers
Balwant Garg/TNS

Faridkot, September 15
To bring all unauthorised colonies under the planning, framework, the district administration and revenue department is putting pressure on the colonisers to pay composition and regularisation fees or face music with criminal case against them. But the government departments are still far behind in identifying most promoters and owners of unauthorised colonies who have been defaulters.

In Faridkot revenue division, comprising Muktsar, Bathinda, Mansa, Faridkot and Fazilka districts, though the Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA) has identified 553 unauthorised colonies, this apex institution of the state government which is supposed to regularise urban growth could not identify the owners and promoters of most of these unauthorised colonies.

While the district administration has threatened to get criminal cases registered against the promoters of these unauthorised colonies if they failed to get their colonies regularized, the PUDA has been able to dig out the names of only 138 out of a total of 553 unauthorised colonies.

Moreover, these identified names are also based on conjectures, lacking specifications of ownership. Though the revenue department is supposed to have the ownership record of every inch of land, but due to the communication gap between the PUDA and the revenue department, PUDA has to still identify the defaulters.

As per the PUDA records, it was unable to trace the names of any of the 59 unauthorised colonies in Gidderbaha. In Rampura Phul, PUDA was able to find out the name of the promoters of only two out of a total of 59 unauthorised colonies in the town and its peripheral area. In Faridkot district, out of a total of 57 unauthorised colonies, PUDA has in its knowledge the name of only one colony.

While PUDA has now threatened to snap water and electricity supply in these unauthorised colonies in case the promoters and plot holders fail to get their colonies regulrised, there are some units in these colonies which were given special treatment days before the assembly elections by some government departments, including the Improvement Trust and Municipal Corporation, with brick and tile flooring at the cost of public exchequer.

In Faridkot, the district administration has set a deadline of October 4 for the colonisers to get approval for regularisation by paying the composition and regularisation fee. In case the deadline is not adhered to, an FIR would be lodged against the defaulters under the Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation Act.

Now, 0.5 per cent of the collector rate (as on April 1, 2013) would be charged for compounding of colonies established before 2007 with a minimum cap of Rs 25,000 per acre and a maximum of Rs 1 lakh per acre and 2 per cent of the collector rate would be charged for colonies established after 2007 with the minimum cap of Rs 1 lakh per acre and a maximum cap of Rs 5 lakh per acre to get the unauthorised colonies regularised.

10 days on, accused in school girl rape case elude arrest
Our Correspondent

Abohar, September 15
The sub-divisional police has not been able to arrest any of the three accused who were booked under Sections 363, 366A, 376 and 120B of the IPC in connection with alleged rape of a school girl. This when the apex court had directed to put such cases on fast track, The case was registered 10 days ago and police officials have been claiming that efforts to nab the accused were being made.

The victim was medically examined at the Nehru Memorial Civil Hospital here. She had to discontinue studies after filing the complaint.

The victim had reportedly alleged that Kuldeep Kumar of Daulatpura village raped her in a hotel located near the railway overbridge here with the help and connivance of Raj Singh of Shergarh village and another friend. She was taken there in a Swift car and dropped near her native village the next day.

The principal accused and the victim are said to be distant relatives also.

Rumours were widespread in Daulatpura village on Sunday that efforts were being made to marry the principal accused and the victim at a religious place to hush up the case even when she was yet to become major. 

Six killed in separate accidents

Abohar, September 15
Binder Singh, 50, a resident of village Bahawalbasi near here, was run over by a passenger train while crossing the railway track last night. In another incident, Sumitra Devi of village Kallarkhera succumbed to burns that she received after her clothes caught fire when she was preparing tea, family sources said.

Deepu of Ramdev Nagari here was killed as he reportedly fell during the construction of a school building located on Sriganganagar road here this afternoon. He was shifted to Civil Hospital but doctors referred him to Sriganganagar. He died on the way, sources said. Gopi Singh of village Sanganapur of Baghapurana segment in Moga district and Gurlal Singh of village Misriwala (Kotkapura) were killed as a truck reportedly hit another heavy vehicle that had been parked by the roadside on Sriganganagar-Bikaner national highway during the wee hours. The police has registered a case. Krishan Lal of village Data was killed and two others were injured as a car reportedly hit the motorcycle that they were using on return from a fair in Bhadra segment of Hanumangarh. — OC