B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

Water contamination
RO systems no permanent solution, say scientists
Faridkot, November 8
Installing more and more Reverse Osmosis (RO) water purifying system in urban and rural areas of Malwa region drew criticism during a joint meeting of scientists from India and Canada on the second day of an international workshop on “Water for Health” being held at Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), Faridkot.

Open Hussainiwala border for trade: Cong MLA
Ferozepur , November 8
Reacting to the statement of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal regarding the opening of the Fazilka border for trade and transit, Congress MLA Parminder Singh Pinki said the Deputy CM was playing a cruel joke with the people of Ferozepur who had been clamouring for the opening of the Hussainiwala border for the past 32 years.

e-Panchayat project in Muktsar soon
Muktsar, November 8
The Muktsar zila parishad will soon start the e-Panchayat project. The project aims at the computerisation of all panchayats in the district and will be carried out in a phased manner.

Barnala DFSC suspended
Barnala, November 8
AP Singh, the District Food and Supply Controller (DFSC), Barnala, has been placed under suspension by the Department of Food and Civil Supplies, Punjab.

Fazilka college lecturers hold protest
Fazilka, November 8
Twenty guest faculty lecturers of the local MR Government College staged a dharna and burnt an effigy of the Punjab Government to protest against non-acceptance of their long-pending demands.

Power sub-station inaugurated
Barnala, November 8
MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa inaugurated a 66-KV sub-station at Shehna village today. Speaking on the occasion, Dhindsa said with the commissioning of the sub-station, 32 villages would be benefited directly or indirectly as it would improve the power supply and the living standard of people in these villages.

Water contamination
RO systems no permanent solution, say scientists
Balwant Garg
Tribune News Service

Faridkot, November 8
Installing more and more Reverse Osmosis (RO) water purifying system in urban and rural areas of Malwa region drew criticism during a joint meeting of scientists from India and Canada on the second day of an international workshop on “Water for Health” being held at Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), Faridkot.

“Installing RO systems to provide 'safe' drinking water without tackling the problem of water contamination at the source will not prove effective in the long term," said Dr SS Gill, Vice-chancellor of the BFUHS. Around 75 per cent of the water fed into a RO system is refused as hard water while only 25 per cent is used for human consumption. "The discarded hard water ends up in the earth itself. Hence, relying solely on RO system for good quality drinking water is not suffice. Rather we should ponder over the causes of contamination of our rivers and canals. The quality of water in the Sutlej is high near Nangal and Ropar where the river enters Punjab. However, once it passes through Ludhiana, it receives raw sewage and industrial effluents in huge quantities affecting the quality of water. It needs to be checked."

While the Water Supply and Sanitation Department treats the Sutlej water before supplying it to domestic and commercial consumers, heavy metals remain in the water posing a risk to the human health, said the VC.

Roy Maclaren, chairman of the board of directors of the Indo-Canadian joint venture, said there should be a strict law to manage and protect lakes and rivers. The scientists from both the countries proposed to set up a six-member committee to review the sources of drinking water and causes of water pollution in Punjab.

Tomorrow, the scientists will visit the thermal plants at Bathinda and Lehra Mohabbat to assess the disposal of fly ash.

Open Hussainiwala border for trade: Cong MLA
Our Correspondent

Ferozepur , November 8
Reacting to the statement of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal regarding the opening of the Fazilka border for trade and transit, Congress MLA Parminder Singh Pinki said the Deputy CM was playing a cruel joke with the people of Ferozepur who had been clamouring for the opening of the Hussainiwala border for the past 32 years.

The border was closed after the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war. Pinki said Ferozepur was nearest to the border and had requisite infrastructure to facilitate the trans-border trade, hence it should be the priority of the state as well as the Central Government to open it up.

Pinki said he was not against the opening of the Fazilka border, but the Deputy Chief Minister should not extend a step-motherly treatment to the people of Ferozepur by asking the Union Government to open the Fazilka border only.

Notably, the opening of the Hussainiwala-Lahore border has been hanging fire for the past three decades.

On a number of occasions, leaders from the both sides of the border have taken up the issue and it has been raised several times in the parliament, but to no avail. Over and above, the entire traders’ community in Malwa has been anxious for the re-opening of the trade route as they feel that any further delay will severely affect their business besides affecting the future of the lakhs of people in the border belt of Punjab.

“Most of the trade that takes place between Punjab and Pakistan is through Mumbai or Dubai, which means a considerable increase in costs. Perishable goods, including vegetables, cannot be shipped. Besides onion and potato, there is a great demand for green chilies, ginger and other such commodities in Pakistan, which can easily be sent through the Hussainiwala border," said the Congress legislator.

He said the opening of the route would bring prosperity to the both sides.

e-Panchayat project in Muktsar soon

Muktsar, November 8
The Muktsar zila parishad will soon start the e-Panchayat project. The project aims at the computerisation of all panchayats in the district and will be carried out in a phased manner.

“During the current fiscal, Rs 69.7 lakh would be spent on the purchase of computer hardware and other accessories,” said Abneet Kaur, chairperson of the zila parishad. She said Rs 36.96 lakh would be spent on the repair of 44 rural dispensaries to strengthen the healthcare facilities in the rural parts of the district.

Rs 1.60 crore would be spent on the construction of 10 Rajiv Ghandi Sewa Kendras in four blocks and Rs 143.27 lakh had been reserved for the cleaning of 47 waterworks and their filter tanks under the MGNREGA, she added.

ADC (D) Rambir Singh said, “In the first phase, we will purchase 200 computers and tables for the project.” — TNS

Barnala DFSC suspended
Tribune News Service

Barnala, November 8
AP Singh, the District Food and Supply Controller (DFSC), Barnala, has been placed under suspension by the Department of Food and Civil Supplies, Punjab.

When contacted over the phone, SS Johal, Director, Food and Civil Supplies, Punjab, confirmed the suspension of AP Singh.

He said the District Food and Supply Controller had been suspended in the light of a complaint wherein serious allegations were levelled against him.

However, the director declined to divulge the details.

Fazilka college lecturers hold protest

Fazilka, November 8
Twenty guest faculty lecturers of the local MR Government College staged a dharna and burnt an effigy of the Punjab Government to protest against non-acceptance of their long-pending demands.

Hundreds of students of the college also joined the dharna to express solidarity with temporary lecturers. The lecturers said the Punjab Government had directed the Director Education (Colleges) to increase the salary of all 525 guest lecturers from Rs 7,000 to Rs 10,000 per month. The state government was to bear the increased salary. While Rs 7,000 were being paid from the PTA funds, the government has now directed the college managements to use PTA funds to pay the increased salary too. The protesters said instead of engaging them for academic sessions only, they should be allowed to serve for the entire year and should be entitled to stipulated holidays. Studies of about 2,200 students were affected owing to the strike as there are only four regular lecturers in the college against the sanctioned posts of 24. — OC

Power sub-station inaugurated
Tribune News Service

Barnala, November 8
MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa inaugurated a 66-KV sub-station at Shehna village today. Speaking on the occasion, Dhindsa said with the commissioning of the sub-station, 32 villages would be benefited directly or indirectly as it would improve the power supply and the living standard of people in these villages.

He said Rs 4.25 crore were spent on the sub-station. Five more 66-KV sub-stations were under construction in Cheema, Jandsar, Jiyondh, Farwahi and Rureke villages and hopefully would be made operational soon, he added.