Beyond Bathinda venture

MR HARI JAISINGH, in his article “Beyond Bathinda venture: Punjab’s socio-economic challenges”(November 13), has rightly stressed that we have to begin the search for the keys of healthy economic and social growth.

Setting up of new industrial units is, no doubt, a right step towards achieving the above mentioned goal. But simultaneously the government should avoid wasteful expenditure. In this context, I can’t really understand why a rally should have been organised to mark the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the Bathinda refinery.

The arrangements made for the rally, as reported in The Tribune of November 14, should give an indication of how much money must have been wasted on the exercise. A 40-km stretch of road (from the Bhisiana Air Force station to the site of the refinery) was decorated like a bride with welcome arches, flags and flowers; a fresh coat of paint was given to the road dividers and roundabouts; all the roads from Bathinda to the rally site were dotted with policemen.

It should also not be forgotten that a huge amount must have been spent on bringing thousands of people to the rally site and then taking them back to their towns and villages. Hundreds of vehicles meant to transport goods must have been seized by the administration to put up an impressive show of human beings at the rally. Imagine, how much the state would have benefited in economic terms had it allowed these people to work instead of attending the rally. In fact, the vehicles meant for the rally must have obstructed the free movement of other vehicles on the roads, thereby causing delay to the people in reaching their destinations besides obstructing the free movement of goods.

This is not all. A large number of officers and officials must have ignored their departmental work for several days to enable themselves to make arrangements for the Prime Minister’s rally. Similarly, the ruling party leaders must have spent a lot of time to “motivate” the people to attend the rally.

And what, by the way, can be the purpose of organising a rally to mark the beginning of work on a refinery? Are such public meetings not a cruel joke on the people of a poor country like India? When will our politicians learn to do only what they should do?

SURENDRA MIGLANI
Kaithal

KUDOS for Badal: The Chief Minister of Punjab deserves congratulations for the Rs 16000 crore refinery project. It is a result of his personal efforts.

Mr Badal and his team should create an atmosphere so attractive that more and more investment pours in the state. They should avoid burdening the industry with more taxes.

HARI OM MITTAL
Ludhiana

Infrastructure: The writer has correctly pointed out that the time has come for all political parties to shift their attention to economic development and social uplift instead of getting bogged down in partisan politics. For this purpose state should play a meaningful role by creating more infrastructural facilities. In this respect, primary education plays a vital role. It is shocking to see that Punjab is lacking in education.

SUBHASH C. TANEJA
Rohtak

Killers of the innocent

The militants belonging to the Lashkar-e-Toiba or Hizbul Mujahideen groups have proved themselves to be the sons of Satan. They may pose themselves as “religious” soldiers fighting for a “holy” cause. But who will believe these serpents who ruthlessly murder innocent people of Jammu and Kashmir for no rhyme or reason.

The victims may be Hindus or Muslims; they are after all human beings and killing of these innocent souls is the greatest sin in all religions, including Islam.

A government that shelters, trains and instigates such mercenaries is equally despicable. But more condemnable are the people who do not deal these devils with deadly hands. Intentionally ignoring these serpents is the height of cowardice, far worse than suicide.

Mere loud talks of booming bursts will not do. The authorities must curb their anti-India and inhuman activities with determination and an iron hand.

JAI DEV SUMAN
Ferozepore Cantt

Unclog the system

Mr Joginder Singh, former chief of CBI, deserves appreciation for his article, “India’s ineffective rulers: how to unclog the system” (The Tribune, Nov 17), focussing attention on the miserable plight of the common man under the obtaining “clogged” administrative set-up. I fully share the point adumbrated in the article.

Mere existence for the common man is becoming increasingly nightmarish day by day, thanks to the woeful working by the stinking administrative set-up. Bluntly speaking, the cumbersome administrative set-up seems moving along literally like a ramshackle old bus, spitting misery on the public at large. Indeed, one must “pass through hell”, as Mr Singh has aptly pointed out, in order to seek the redressal of a grievance howsoever just and genuine. There is, of course, an easy way out— applying the requisite “magical lubricant” to the jammed wheels of the administration. But, then, the exercise poses a problem for the people, especially those who still hug morality.

Apparently, it is an imperative of the larger public interest to “decongest” the system. Would the political masters “avoid the beaten track and show a new path” in a bid to achieve the desideratum? Let us hope for the best!

TARA CHAND
Ambota (Una)

The neglected tubewells

About nine lakh tubewells of Punjab and five lakh of Haryana are facing extinction, not due to any natural calamity but solely owing to official neglect and mismanagement. What is baffling is as to how the governments of the two states have come to be equally unmindful of this tragedy.

The tubewell era in these states began some 30 years ago when high-yielding varieties of crops made their appearance. Their irrigation requirement was different from that of the traditional varieties. The new varieties needed not only more of water but also more punctuality. The supply pattern as available from canals was unable to meet it. The only choice left to bridge the gap between demand and supply was to exploit groundwater through tubewells. This scheme caught the imagination of farmers and they took to it with gusto. This conjunctive use of canal and tubewell water revolutionised agricultural production, known as the Green Revolution.

The level of groundwater plays a pivotal role in the economics of tubewells. Something went wrong with their planning and the unexpected happened; this level started falling, which has been continuing for more than 15 years. The yield from the tubewells is getting less and less, and their water becoming more and more expensive. The effects of the Green Revolution are fizzling out.

Two options were open to cope with this unexpected situation. The first was to curtail the working hours of tubewells. This would have been anti-development, and hence not adopted. The second was to increase the recharge by artificial means. This was a logical and scientific course, but nothing has been done to try it.

Neither of the two states has the necessary knowhow for artificial recharge. As a matter of fact, none in India has got it. Some amount of research and experimentation is, therefore, unavoidable, but the two states have not shown any inclination for such a pioneering venture. The deadlock continues, and so does the suffering of the farmers.

This also poses a risk to ecology; in course of time the brackish water from the adjoining areas can intrude into the present sweet water belt. Such a damage would be irreversible. It is high time the two governments realised the gravity of the situation.

Both states have got plenty of surplus rainwater, which is being allowed to go waste via the rainwater drains even in this age of water shortage. This water can be desilted and used for recharging through boreholes to be located at suitable places. This is the only method of putting a derailed revolution on the rails once again and thus ending the sufferings of the farmers. Necessity being the mother of inventions, the two governments have no choice but to start research on these lines.

S.P. MALHOTRA
Formerly Engineer-in-Chief,
Panchkula Irrigation Deptt, Haryana,

Tailpiece

Guess what is unique about India’s population control scenario?

Answer: Population control measures and Children’s Day celebrations go side by side!

K.J.S. AHLUWALIA
Amritsar