Bathinda, September 30
Residents of Lal Singh Nagar in the city have announced the boycott of the upcoming elections of the Municipal Corporation in their ward to protest inadequate supply from the water works in their area. Residents of the area are aprehensive after the District Water Supply and Sanitation Department declared the groundwater of the area as not fit for consumption.

People are upset with the government and the Municipal Corporation of Bathinda (MCB) as the area came up many years ago but both have failed to ensure water connections in the area for the last many years. So now, residents have raised a banner of revolt under the aegis of the Nagar Sudhar Committee and wrote a letter to the Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal requesting him to solve their problem of water supply in ward No. 31 and 38 of Lal Singh Nagar.

They have also threatened that if they are not provided with supply from the water works which is fit for human consumption before the Municipal Corporation elections, then they will be forced to intensify their protest and boycott the MCB elections in the city.

Lal Singh Nagar’s Nagar Sudhar Committee leader, Sudhir Sahni, and other residents, in a letter to the Chief Minister, have demanded that Lal Singh Nagar was constructed 45 years ago, but still, the residents of the area do not have clean water fit for human consumption.

He said the present SAD-BJP government has completed nearly eight years but residents of the area have not got anything except for false promises by the leaders. Due to this, residents of these wards have decided to boycott the coming MCB elections in the city.

Residents of the area stated that groundwater in the area is highly contaminated and even the District Water Works and Sanitation Department had termed it as not fit for consumption.

Officials of the department had stated that there is a lerge quantity of chemicals in the water. So this water is not fit for consumption even by the animals and it is also leading to various diseases among the local populace.

Seeing the high graph of diseases in the area, they had written a letter to the Chief Minister hoing that soon their issues will be resolved and they can live here without any risk to their lives.

SAD leader Khet Singh Makar from ward number 38 said he had raised the issue at each and every meeting of the Municipal Corporation to provide clean water in this ward but no one listened to his demands and grievances.

The MCB officials said, at present, work on laying sewerage pipelines is going on in this area. The issue has been brought to their notice, and clean water will soon be provided to them.

Repeated attempts were made to contact the MCB Commissioner, but he was not available for his comments.

Bathinda, September 30
Proving the adage that darkness reigns at the foot of the lighthouse, the District Administrative Complex (DAC) is yet to achieve the target of basic sanitation despite launching the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan with much fanfare.

Except for one corner of the complex in the parking area, all the others are full of garbage heaps not removed for the past many days and still, unbearable stench is emanating from the toilets and many walls are witnessing water leakage.

“Though the stench has been reduced to some extent in these toilets, it is still unbearable to attend nature’s calls,” said a daily visitor Sukhdarshan Sharma.

He said a huge heap of garbage in one corner of the parking area from the main entrance of Government Rajindra College is piling up for the past many days. “The workers would remove a small portion of the heap and leave the rest which again pile up,” said Bhushan Kumar, another daily visitor.

He said the garbage becomes a topic of discussion among the visitors in view of the tall claims by the authorities of launching a cleanliness drive under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

A visit to the complex today revealed that though the floors are cleaned to some extent and the unbearable stench from the toilets has been reduced to a great extent, there was still a lot to be done.

The unused vehicles in the basement and in all the three corners of the complex could be seen occupying space leading to a dearth of space for the parking of visitors’ vehicles.

District Nazir Parkash Chand who is assigned the task of supervising the cleanliness, when contacted, said a workforce of 18 persons managed by a contractor is responsible for the cleaning of the complex, excluding the Tehsil Complex.

“We have given one year’s contract for cleanliness to the contractor for Rs 80,000,” he said. He pointed out that a notice has been served on him not to litter the garbage in the corner.

“We have already advised him to keep the garbage in the bins strictly but in view of the huge quantity of it, garbage is litters in the corners,” he said. He denied the allegations of foul smell emanating from the toilets and leakage and claimed that the task of cleanliness is the senior officers’ top priority, which is well taken care of.

Bathinda, September 30
Punjab is likely to face power crisis soon as four out of 14 units in the three state-owned thermal plants have been shut down due to coal shortage.

PANEM that has an agreement with the PSPCL to supply coal from Pachwara coal block in Jharkhand, has not been supplying coal since September 19. Coal for only four days is reportedly left in these plants that have the capacity to store coal only for 21 days.

Two units, each of 210 MW, in Ropar Thermal Plant, one unit of 210 MW in Guru Gobind Singh Lehra Mohabbat Thermal Plant and one unit of 120 MW in Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant Bathinda had been shut down due to coal shortage while the other units are running at a low load producing around 60 per cent of production.

Sources revealed that the PSPCL on Tuesday had ordered the Ropar Thermal Plant engineers to start one of the two closed units despite the coal shortage.

All the 14 units have a total capacity of 2640 MW out of which Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant Bathinda has a capacity of 460 MW, Guru Gobind Singh Thermal Plant Lehra Mohabbat 920 MW, and Ropar Thermal Plant 1,260 MW at present.

Mansa, September 30
Talwandi Sabo Power Limited (TSPL), the greenest thermal power plant in the country, has been conducting various community development initiatives through its Corporate Social Responsibility Department in peripheral villages of the district.

The company has been implementing a Green School Certification Project in Government Secondary School, Moosa, with the contribution of the school management committee, students and community. The project is a vision statement involving efforts to reduce the school’s ecological footprints, make its environment healthier and compel the community to think about solutions to the problems faced by the society.

The project is based on the principle of “Prevention is better than cure” involving the execution of the combination of six environmental activities: green healthy spaces, traffic management, use of no environmental degrading substances, eco-designed building and energy saving alternatives, reduce, reuse, recycle and promote consumption of healthy food on the school premises.

The school undertaking this project is certified for grading of gold, silver and bronze categories by the Punjab Pollution Control Board in a span of six months. As part of the project implementation, a parent-teacher meeting was conducted in the school on Tuesday with the purpose of briefing and soliciting the support of parents in making it a success. School in-charge Ashok Kumar briefed a gathering of parents, guardians and school students about the initiatives being undertaken by it.

Further, a separate meeting was also conducted with the newly-formed Eco Club and Traffic Management Club of the school, wherein students were oriented towards the project and invited to share their ideas. The event saw a gathering of 150 parents and 700 students along with school staff, and representatives of TSPL.

Seventy families were gifted fruit-bearing trees by the TSPL on the occasion.

A painting competition on “Energy Saving”, a preliminary school audit, ban on junk food, water testing from drinking water sources, and a sapling plantation programme in school, have already been conducted in the school. Periodic awareness sessions, training programnes for the Eco Club and the Traffic Management Club, repair of leakages, installation of energy saving equipment, ban on plastic and other initiatives have been been planned. 

Bathinda, September 30
As the city gears up for Dasehra, artists from the suburbs are busy giving final touches to the effigies of Ravana, Meghanad and Kumbhkaran, that will finally be reduced to ashes to symbolise the triumph of the good over the evil.

Dasehra will be celebrated at various locations in the city at MSD School, Partap Nagar, Thermal Ground, the Railway ground and the NFL ground.

Vijay Kumar, who is organising and conducting Dasehra at Partap Nagar, said they are making the tallest effigy of Ravana, which is 57-foot, in the city. This year, they will be firing it through a missile and people will see the fight of Rama and Ravana in the air through cranes this year.

“I don’t do it for profit. It’s my effort to make people aware of our culture. It’s sad to know that most of us do not have time or any interest left to know where our roots are. We have put up a huge screen that presents Ramayana everyday for two hours. At the end of every show, we put a question to the audience about what they saw.

I was the first one who came up with the concept of showing Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayana in Bathinda many years ago, but this year only, I could not Ramlila as the ground where we organise the event every year, had no space due to some construction,” he added. He also stated that due to inflation, this year, the celebration will cost them around Rs 4.14 lakh to celebrate Dashera.

People not only from Bathinda, but also from the nearby districts, come here to watch the celebration. I have been doing it for the last 25 years. All this has been made possible because of public support,” he says.

There are others who feel celebrating Dasehra is akin to rendering social service to mankind. Rajinder Kumar and Rukmani, residents of Janta Nagar who also manage to burn two to three effigies, feel that, “It’s our duty to spread knowledge about what India is when it comes to religion. I have been celebrating Dasehra for the last many years and I intend to carry on the tradition.”

Bathinda, September 30
The shopkeepers of the Kikkar Bazar Association announced on Tuesday that they would boycott the meeting called by the Municipal Commissioner Dalwinderjit Singh on October 3.

The president of the association, Jiwan Kumar, said the official letter in this regard was received by him today but he, along with the other shopkeepers, had decided not to participate in the meeting.

The letter was sent to the association president to chalk out the modalities to ensure a smooth passage for the people during the festive season and to discuss the issues pertaining to security and take preventive measures to avoid fire outbreak or other possible eventualities.

“There is no point in meeting the Commissioner in view of the high-headed and narcissistic attitude adopted by the officials of the Municipal Corporation,” Jiwan said.

He lamented that the corporation officials never listen to the common man and their biased and selective anti-encroachment drive is an open secret. The stories of pocketing money from the poor and not taking any action against the influential could be heard from anyone, he said.

Even the Improvement Trust authorities refuse to take action against a hotel situated on Goniana Road, opposite the three cinemas, which has put up stalls by encroaching upon the Trust’s land. “A cigarette and biri seller’s vend was removed by the trust officials some days ago but the hotel owner who has encroached upon the land was spared,” said Gurwinder Singh, a resident of Ajit Road.

“There is no issue in attending the meetings if the officials adopt a positive attitude towards our problems and find a way that is acceptable to everyone. They sent a similar letter around 15 days ago as well but at that time, I failed to make it in time for the meeting as I was out of town,” he said.

“But this time, we have decided not to attend the meeting at all and have announced to boycott it in view of the registration of a case against the shopkeepers including him,” Jiwan added.

It is pertinent to mention here that the employees of the Tehbazari wing—who are supposed to remove the encroachments from the corporation roads and pavements—entered into heated arguments and brawl with the shopkeepers following which three shopkeepers were booked by the police.

The shopkeepers alleged that the shops situated in Kikkar Bazar are targeted while the others are ignored due to reasons best known to the officials concerned.

“There are similar encroachments in Dhobi Bazar, Hospital Bazar, Mehna Chowk, Sirki Bazar, Raiwlay Road, Amreek Singh Road, Power House Road and Ajit Road but the drive of the Tehbazari wing of the MC is always selective,” Jiwan alleged.

Bathinda, September 30
Preparing itself for the forthcoming elections to the Municipal Corporation, the local unit of the Congress commenced a campaign here.

Party workers are preparation a list of public grievances from different parts of the city.

General secretary of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee and a former minister, Harminder Singh Jassi, at a meeting held with party workers from 50 wards, said the residents who were shown the dream of ‘acche din’ by the SAD-BJP government, were demanding a solution to the sewerage problem, and water-borne diseases.

“They had installed at least 100 foundation stones of different sewerage schemes. However, not even a single has been completed,” he added.

Jassi said at least 11 foundation stones were laid during the recent Lok Sabha elections, however, work had commenced not even on a single project. He said the government did not have even a single penny in its coffers, so all the promised projects were pure lies.

“The ‘Swacch Bharat’ programme meant very little on the ground because the posh localities of the city including Power Road, Ajit Road and even Model Town are full of filth,” said the leader.

Jassi said every day, there were accidents reported as different newspaper reports showed. Stray animals continued to roam freely. However, the administration did not seem bothered at all.

Others present on the occasion included district president Mohan Lal Jhumba, secretary PPCC, Iqbal Dhillon, Kuldip Sidhu, Jagtar Singh Baba, Tinku Grover, Sandeep Soni, Harry Romana, Jagmeet Singh, Ashwani Goyal and media in-charge Rupinder Bindra.

Bathinda, September 30
PWD employees under the banner of PWD Employee’s Coordination Committee held a march against the Executive Engineer of two divisions against, their long pending demands here on Tuesday.

They raised slogans and burnt the effigy of their senior officials at Bhagu Road.

The employees threatened to start permanent protest, if their demands were not met by October 7.

Addressing the protesters, convenor of the sangharsh committee, Kewal Singh, Sukhmander Singh Dhaliwal and Piyare Lal said the state government and the management were not paying any heed to their demands due to which the employees are irked.

They said employees were continuously protesting, demanding Rs 3,200 as grade pay, but the government is not executing it. They demanded that in all PWD wings, there is difference in salaries that should be cleared at the earliest. Class IV employees should be given Rs 1,900 as salary. 

Bathinda, September 30
Sarvashreshth Engineer Regiment’s trekking expedition from Palampur to Manali which was flagged off from the local Military Station on September 3, was flagged in by Brig Hari Singh, Commander, Sarvada Agrani Brigade, amidst a colourful cultural programme here on Tuesday.

The expedition was organised in connection with the 50th Raising Day. The regiment completed the treacherous trek at Manali on September 25.

A 12-member team led by Capt Prashant Chaudhary started its trek from Palampur. The team crossed Thamsar and Kalihani Passes at 15,500 and 16,000 feet, respectively.

The tough 168 km trek schedule covered Bir, Biling, Rajgunda, Panihardu, Marhu, Bara Bangal, Sukha parav, Lama Parav, Gwari and Sangchur.

Bathinda, September 30
A ‘Youth Festival’ was organised by the Nehru Yuva Kendra here on Tuesday. Youth from 200 clubs of the district participated in the festival.

Chairman of the Zila Parishad, Gurpreet Singh Maluka, was the chief guest on the occasion. The function was presided over by Jagjeet Singh Mann, district youth coordinator.

Appreciating the work carried out by different youth organisations of the district, Maluka said the government would provide saplings to youth organisations which came forward for a tree plantation drive. Sports kits were distributed to different organisations.

President of the district Youth Clubs Associations asked all to keep a transparent record of the activities of their respective clubs. 

Bathinda, September 30
In an attempt to mobilise and promote Hindi, a 15-day ‘Hindi Pakhwara’ concluded at Central University of Punjab here on Monday.

Prof Rohini Aggarwal, Head, Department of Hindi, Maharishi Dayanand Vishvidhalya, Rohtak, was the key speaker at the closing programme.

“ The language like Hindi is used by a speaker to deliver thoughts and views in original shape and everyone should feel comfort in using it,” he said.

“There is need for action instead of debates and programmes as per the government rules to improve the status of Hindi, and get it a deserving place in the world of languages. It is necessary to respect other languages as well, because it supports growth and in-depth learning of literature and culture.” he added.

Aggarwal distributed prizes to the university employees and students who won various competitions held during the phakwara.

Later Prof Ramarao, Dean, Academic Affairs, felicitated Prof Rohini and later shared the message of Smriti Irani, Minister of MHRD, Government of India, on Hindi Diwas.

Prof Chaman Lal spoke about the history of Hindi and Prof Rajinder Kumar presented the activity report of Hindi Pakhwara at the beginning of the progarmme. The programme concluded with a cultural programme, which was presented by students.

Colonel (retd) Jagdev Kartar Singh, Prof AK Jain, Shweta Arora, officiating registrar, were also present on the occasion.

Bathinda, September 30
Delhi Public School, Bathinda , has organised a three-day book fair in the school from September 29 to October 1.

A number of students and faculty participated in the fair, in which books of different writers and on different issues were displayed.

Chairman of the school and chief guest Dr Arun Jee inspired the students to develop reading habit and read the books that can enhance their knowledge.

Bathinda, September 30
The local police seem to have failed in arresting a SAD leader Shivkaran Singh who was booked for thrashing and sexually harassing a girl four days ago in the market at Ajit Road.

Officials at the Civil Lines police station said for far they have not been able to arrest the accused in this case. He added that raids have been conducted to nab him and the police was hopeful that he would be nabbed soon.

It is worth mentioning that the accused, Shivkaran Singh, is a close associate of circle president of Youth Akali Dal (YAD), Chamkaur Mann, and a Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) leader.

On Septmber 26, Shivkaran Singh and his close associate, Gurvinder Singh openly thrashed and sexually harassed the girl, a resident of Surakhpeer road in the city.

The accused had been continuously teasing the victim for some time and one day, they molested her when she objected to their eve-teasing. They allegedly thrashed her and her father openly in the market when the victim and her father resisted molestation bid.

The victim said for the last two years, the accused Gurvinder Singh had been teasing her and she had earlier given a complaint to the police, but the police didn’t register any case and had resolved the matter verbally by giving a warning to the accused.

“This boosted the morale of the accused who started teasing me everyday whenever I would go for tuitions to Ajit Road,” said the girl.

“Everyday, he used to stand outside my school and tease me. But yesterday, the accused crossed all limits and around 2 pm, he came and held my hand besides using obscene language. I resisted and called my father who reached immediately. At this, the accused called his acquaintance Shivkaran Singh, who is said to have strong backing,” the victim added.

She added: “Shivkaran along with his goons reached the spot and started brandishing his arms and then thrashed the victim’s father and brother, who had resisted the accused, Gurvinder Singh. They hit my father in the head with a gun and threatened him,” recalled the victim.

She also alleged that Shivkaran Singh tore her clothes, beat her up badly and abused her by using vulgar comments and even threatened her saying that he will kidnap her from her house. “More than four days have passed but the police have failed to arrest the accused who have strong political backing.”

Bathinda, September 30
A woman has been booked by the police for carrying sulphas tablets, here today. The accused, Sukhpreet Kaur, wife of an undertrial went to meet him at jail.

When police official were searching her before letting her in, sulphas tablets were recovered for her slipper.