Bathinda, December 19
In yet another road accident that almost certainly occurred due to dense fog in the wee hours today, a man lost his life while another was rescued by volunteers of an NGO, Sahara Jan Sewa, and members of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).

This is the fifth life consumed by fog in road accident during the past just four days in Bathinda.

The deceased has been identified as 35-year-old Vijay Kumar of Sangat, who was sleeping on the roof of an overloaded tractor-trailer which was loaded with dry fodder and dry cotton sticks.

The tractor was being driven by an 18-year-old Gagandeep Singh, a resident of Sirsa, who was rescued by the volunteers. The accident occurred around 5.30 am when the tractor hit the roadside railings of the lake and plunged into the deep water.

Injured Gagandeep is undergoing treatment at the Civil Hospital said that a bus came at the side of his tractor and in a bid to save a pedestrian he took a turn after which the tractor plunged into the lake.

The driver and the tractor-trailer owner, were on way to Jaito from a village near Dabwali in Haryana. The NGO president, Vijay Goyal, said that this is the fourth accident in the past just four days that occurred due to dense fog and lack of reflectors at roadside.

Five motorists have lost their lives during the past four days as the visibility reduces to zero during the wee hours and late night.

The NGO volunteers have urged commuters to avoid driving during early morning and late night hours in view of lacking basic needs on the city and outer roads.

“Though the government makes tall claims to widen roads, installing roadside reflectors yet nothing has been done practically and people continue to fall victim of the apartheid attitude of the state government,” Goyal said.

He added that though the government has crores of rupees to spend on the opening and closing ceremonies but not even a single penny is spent to save lives of the commuters on the busy roads.

Goyal added that three ambulances of Sahara Jan Sewa reached the spot followed by the NDRF jawans moments after the accident.

He urged the commuters to use low beam during the fog as the high beam of vehicles affects visibility, do not overtake, keep speed below 40 and driving after consuming liquor means falling nefarious design of death trap. 

Bathinda, December 19
Buoyed over its increased demand of ‘desi ghee’ on the foreign shores, the Verka Milk Plant, Bathinda, is all set to double its capacity of the desi ghee production for export.

With Rs 2.5 crore grant from the state government for the augmentation purposes, the milk plant now eyes producing 1,72,800 litres to 2,88,000 litres of ghee per year. Chairman, Verka Milk Plant, Bathinda, Sukhpal Singh Sidhu, said the Bathinda and Ludhiana plants are the only ones in the state that are certified to export desi ghee. He added that the ghee from here is supplied to the main licensee of Verka products in Dubai from where it is further sold off to other Arabian countries.

Currently, the plant exports 6 to 10 containers (each container having 14, 400 litres of ghee) in a year. This stands at 86,400 litres to 1,44,000 lires of the ghee exported every year. After the augmentation is completed, the capacity of plant would be increased to 12 to 20 containers per year, said the general manager Rupinder Singh Sekhon.

By the end of March next year, the augmented machinery would be put in place, while the production would be started in month of April. The plant has a capacity of processing 150 tonnes of desi ghee per month. While 100 to 115 tonnes is consumed in the domestic market, the 25 tons to 28 tons is exported.

Till now, the plant has mainly been exporting the desi ghee only during the winters. With the expansion of anvil, the plant will be able to export ghee in summers also. “During summers, the milk production dips as heat tells upon the health of milch cattle. On the other hand, the milk production increases by leaps and bounds in summers. With the new expansion on anvil, we will be adding a series of machinery, which will help us store the milk fat at lower temperatures for longer time periods. This will enable us to export ghee in summers too,” added MD Sekhon.

Besides, the milk plant has also decided to open its chain of booths in the Bathinda city, which the Verka will operate on its own. Verka currently has only vendors, who do not keep Verka products exclusively.

“We have now decided to introduce nine to 10 booths in the city that we will operate. These booths will be strategically placed and operated in such a way that Verka products are made available every area around the clock,” said chairman Sidhu. 

Bathinda, December 19
Members of the Bathinda Ophthalmological Society today urged the government to exclude drugs and disposables supplied by hospitals, nursing homes and clinics to their patients from the Value Added Tax (VAT).

The reaction comes in view of the recent raids the excise and taxation department officials conducted at some hospitals in Patiala. In a press statement, issued here, the president of the Bathinda Ophthalmological Society, Dr Amrit Sethi, condemned the raids alleging that the taxation officials barged into operation theatres where surgeries were on without any notice served to these hospitals and no letter of authorisation of raid or identity card of raiding party was shown.

“It is an established fact that the administration of drugs or implanting devices and disposables in human body are part of treatment and does not amount to sale. A hospital is not a shop selling drugs and disposables or implants," he said.

He said the word sale could not be used for the any kind of medical aid made available to the patients. He added that the question of sale is not restricted only to stents, intra-ocular lenses and other implants but to the entire spectrum of drugs and disposables used by any doctor in his clinic or nursing home.

The doctors are permitted to stock and provide drugs and disposables to their own patients from their own pharmacy without opening a shop. This does not require a drug licence, he claimed. 

Bathinda, December 19
A legal awareness camp was organised at the Government School in Deon village by volunteers of the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA).

Advocate Shahbharat Sidhu said the camp was organised on the directions of Daljit Singh Ralhan, Secretary, DLSA, and its Chairman Tejwinder Singh.

Four teams of volunteers and lawyers were directed to hold two hours programme in different schools of the district under which today’s lecture was organised.

Shahbharat was accompanied by paralegal volunteer Natha Singh, who delivered lecture on social evils and legal aid provided at the district courts.

Children were made aware about the functioning of the Lok Adalat, Front Office, advantages of Lok Adalat, causes of female foeticide, dowry, domestic violence and protection of females from domestic violence. Various Acts, including Senior Citizens Act, Dowry Act and Domestic Violence Act, was also discussed during the camp. 

Bathinda, December 19
The Municipal Corporation Bathinda (MCB) saw a change of guard, incomplete projects and introduction of new taxes and rules and the term of maiden general house of the MCB coming to an end.

The MCB faced a unique protest by city residents. Irate over stray cattle, they forced cattle into the precincts of the MCB office. The result –the MCB ended up forming a policy and implemented Cow Cess Act to create funds for managing the stray cattle in the city that has become a cause of fatal accidents.

Despite tall claims and funds pumped into de-silting trunk sewer in the city, the MCB has failed to get the job completed from private company working on the project. A young sewer worker ended up paying with his life for the de-silting the sewer opposite Government Rajindra College on the day of Baisakhi celebrations on April 13.

At the front of managing municipal solid waste (MSW), even after two years of starting the garbage collection in the city, the MSW facility of the corporation hangs in limbo. With the case under consideration at the National Green Tribunal (NGT), applicants in case are hopeful of getting justice, while the Punjab government is keen to implement the project soon.

The case, which was the first from Punjab to reach the NGT regarding MSW facility, has turned the wave making state government form guidelines and framework for proper implementation of similar projects to be spawned in seven clusters of the state.

The year saw different kind of taxes and increased paper work for the babus as well as common man. Introduction of property tax was the issue that kept everyone on the tenterhooks. The self-assessment of property tax till date remains a gigantic task for the semi-literates and the illiterates. With the government extending dates for paying property tax, people are making beeline to pay the same.

The year 2013 saw residents of many areas in for a surprise when the government declared their colonies illegal. Finding an amicable way out, the government has started collecting fees for regularisation adding to the state treasury as well as the burden of staff members.

The year also saw the owners of dairies, located within the city, being taken to task for emptying their waste into the sewers. While the practice has not stopped completely, yet the dairy owners are now contemplating to shift out of the city as the government had directed earlier.

Despite a year passed, the area beyond railway tracks, continues to reel under the paucity of sewer and water connection. The MCB has prepared an elaborate Rs 150 cr plan to provide 100 per cent sewer, but “forgot” to give a disposal for an earlier sewer project in the Lal Singh Basti area following which the residents have filed a case against it in the local court.

The project on multi storey parking on the fire brigade land is still in limbo. Repeated meetings with the private consultant and the municipal councillors have remained inconclusive.

The year saw Municipal Commissioner Uma Shankar Gupta being transferred to Mohali and Vipul Ujwal taking up the charge. In the middle of the year, the maiden general house’s term came to an end with the elections of new house still pending.