Mandi Ahmedgarh, September 6
Thousands of devotees thronged Guga Mari Mandir at Chhapar village, near here, to worship snake, the embodiment of “nag devta”.

The first day, known as “chowkis”, saw a large number of men and women attending the religious fair. The police, which was busy planning security arrangements, found it difficult to control the unexpectedly large gathering.

Being one of the largest fairs of North India, Chhapar Mela started attracting a large number of devotees since early morning. Till noon, women outnumbered men.

Mr R. K. Jaiswal, SSP, Jagraon, and in charge of the mela, said about 1,500 policemen had been deputed to ensure proper security for the devotees.

To keep a check on the sale and use of liquor, special teams had been constituted. Policemen in plainclothes, including women, had been deputed at sensitive points.

The police would be assisted by cameras, which would keep an eye on anti-social elements.

Mr Jaiswal said a limited number of four-wheelers would be issued passes to enter the mela area. This, he said, would restrict the carrying of weapons and wine.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, September 6
Timely intervention by the authorities averted a clash between two groups warring for the control of a portion of Guga Mari Mandir last night.

According to Mr R K Jaiswal, SSP, Jagraon, and in charge of the Chhapar Mela, Mr Suhinder Pal Singh Bawa SP (H), and Mr M S Jaggie, SDM, Ludhiana, motivated two residents of Sekhon Patti Chhapar and priests-cum-owners of Guga Mari to organise the event jointly and amicably instead of entering into a confrontation over a petty issue.

“There were some misunderstandings which have been removed with the timely intervention of officers from our department and the civil administration. Both parties have agreed to the proposal that the priests would contribute Rs 2 lakh for the development of the temple and adjoining buildings and the money would be utilised by a committee comprising members from both groups,” said Mr Jaiswal, adding that all issues had been resolved.

The situation became tense when a section of residents of the village tried to gherao the temple last night. An irate mob tried to enter the temple to avert the handing over of the charge of temples at Guga Mari, but the police acted firmly and asked the elders to intervene.

Disagreement had arisen over priests renting out a verandah which according to the villagers had been constructed for the convenience of devotees. A court at Ludhiana had ordered status quo at the said verandah. Both parties agreed to leave the place for the use of devotees instead of renting it out to some vendor.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, September 6
A village fair that originated as a small gathering of locals to worship snake embodiment of Guga 150 years ago has emerged as a mega festival in the past three decades.

The legend narrates a story of a boy and a snake born together in an agricultural family of Chhapar village. The serpent and the boy were so intimate that if one suffered a pain the other used to cry.

One day the mother of the child went to the fields after laying him on a cot. To save him from the scorching sun, the snake stretched its hood over him. Mistaking that the snake is going to bite the child, a passerby killed it with a stick. The child also died immediately after the death of the snake that left the family in sorrow.

The family was advised by the elders to perform religious ceremonies to worship Guga and Sidh and a he-goat was left free to mark the place of worship by striking at a particular place.

The place was recognised as Mari Guga where people from all walks of life have been worshipping Guga on the fourth day of the month of Bhadas every year.

The farmers of the Malwa belt recognise the fair to the extent that they change the agricultural chores according to the dates of the mela.

People also narrate another story regarding the second fair known as “Minor Mela Chhapar.”

On the onset of the 20 century, the then Maharaja was said to have banned the mela on a complaint by some farmers. But soon after the ruler banned the event, his horses started dying mysteriously and the misfortune stopped only after the ruler announced to organise the minor mela following the major one.

According to another story, a faqir once anchored a twig after cleaning his teeth. A local person uprooted the twig in a fun.

The faqir then cursed the people of the local area that the place would witness a heavy camp here, which would be followed by a deserted look.

Though originally the fair had started as a small congregation of the devotees of Guga, it has now transformed into a big festival.

Ludhiana, September 6
Birds and field rats pose a serious threat to field crops and stored grains. Much of the damage is caused at the seedling and ripening stage. The innocuous looking doves and pigeons relish pulses. When joined by sparrows and weaver birds, these ‘winged visitors’ feast on stored paddy in Punjab worth approximately Rs 2.4 crore annually. Weaver birds are wont to damaging rice nurseries and maturing bajra and sorghum.

According to Punjab Agricultural University’s latest edition of ‘Package of Practices for crops of Punjab – Rabi 2006-07’, the damage caused by rodents and birds is colossal. It has underlined the need for effective management thereof. Interestingly, rats and mice are extremely “adaptable in nature, highly intelligent in behaviour patterns and possess tremendous potential to multiply”. Their sense of smell and taste is acute. They are selective in food choice.

The average damage to wheat caused by rats and mice is around 2.9 per cent at the seedling stage and 4.5 per cent at ripening stage. Peas are another delicacy that rats enjoy. The damage caused to peas is 1.1 per cent at the seedling and 5.9 per cent at the ripening stage. Maize, which has multiple uses for man, is also not safe. Rats and mice nibble away 10.7 per cent of winter maize at the seedling stage alone.

Birds are either farmer-friendly or are their foes. In fact, the same species of birds may either be beneficial or problematic in different situations. Only a few of 300-odd species of birds of Punjab cause damage to field crops and granaries. Among the most harmful birds is the parakeet, followed by doves and pigeons.

Here is a word of warning to the farmers of the ‘bet’ area: rats’ damage to wheat near sugarcane fields, on waste land, canals and roads is up to 25 per cent. There are several ways to control the menace: mechanical, bait, environmental and biological. In biological control, owls, kites, hawks, falcons, eagles, cats, mongoose, jackals and lizards need to be protected as these are natural predators of mice.

Management of birds is important. Parakeets love to nibble and eat almost all seasonal crops and enjoy tasting the sunflower. House crows damage sprouting and maturing maize and sunflower.

Of the many management techniques to checkmate or scare away harmful birds, “alarming calls” are useful.

“Alarming call” is a recorded cassette available at the Centre for Communication, Languages and Culture, PAU. Priced at Rs 25, these recorded cassette voices are “distress” or “flock calls” of parakeets and crows, respectively. When played at full volume for about 60 to 90 minutes twice a day at dawn and dusk with a pause of 60 minutes, the birds are scared away and halt their feeding activities for the day in the freshly sown fields or in emerging and maturing crops or in orchards.

Conservation of useful birds is equally important. Even carnivorous birds like little sparrows and weaver birds feed on a large number of insects to their young ones. This feeding is done almost 250 times a day. Therefore, useful birds should not be killed, rather they can be attracted to field crops in several different ways.

Ludhiana, September 6
Resenting the recent directions by the Centre to prosecute those involved in power thefts under the Electricity Act-2003, the Auto Parts Manufacturers Association said the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) had already wielded enough powers to deal with the theft.

“The current regulations and legislations are against the consumers and even in case of minor violations, electricity consumers are harassed and charged with heavy penalties. The Power Ministry’s recent direction for states in this region, including Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, to set up special courts to prosecute those involved in power theft are uncalled for,” said Mr G.S. Kahlon, president of the association.

The association alleged that in many cases of violations, electricity connections of consumers were disconnected and the penalty was much higher in comparison to the violation.

With additional powers and resorting to measures like prosecution, corruption would increase further and consumers would be harassed, said Mr Kahlon.

He added that under Section 135 of the Electricity Act-2003, PSEB officials had powers to enter, inspect, break open and search any place or premises. “In spite of already strict regulations, fresh regulations to curb power theft have been passed. The move would disturb relations between the electricity board and industry, the association said.

Demanding that various discrepancies in the Electricity Act-2003 be removed, the association said amendments should be made only after due consultations with the industry. The association also urged the ministry to withdraw the directions pertaining to curbing of theft so that any further deterioration in relations between the industry and PSEB could be avoided, it said.

Ludhiana, September 6
Indian Overseas Bank, Kachehry Road branch, took possession of a property in the name of Anil Kumar, at Royal City near Jalandhar Bypass, under Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002.

Bank officials said that loan to the tune of Rs 36.57 lakh was outstanding which the borrower failed to repay. Despite notices, when the borrower failed to repay the loan, the bank took physical possession of the property.

The property were duly locked and sealed, said bank officials. They added that the entire process was carried out with the assistance of M/s Gee and Gee Associates.

Mr A.P. Singh, regional manager, said the bank would continue taking action against defaulters and advised borrowers to repay their loans in time.

Ludhiana, September 6
Punjab National Bank (PNB) will launch the credit card facility soon. The bank, in an endeavour to cater to all financial needs of its customers, will also introduce online broking shortly, said the Executive Director, Mr K. Raghuraman, here today.

“Our aim is to provide all financial services, right from routine banking facilities like deposits and lending to latest facilities like credit cards and online broking,” he said, adding, “We are already offering the de-mat service. The online broking facility would offer a better deal to customers wherein we plan to start the service that would debit cash from their accounts only after completion of transaction. This would give them a float of one to two days, something the industry is not offering so far.”

Mr Raghuraman, who also inaugurated the seventh large corporate branch of the bank in the city today, said: “The large corporate branches have been opened with a view to speeding up the processing time for credit disbursements. We want to cater to the growing credit requirements of industrial base in this region, particularly in Ludhiana. Our target is to increase our advances to Rs 1,000 crore from the existing Rs 580 crore in this branch. Our large corporate branches in the country are handling business to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore.”

The PNB would soon forge a tie-up with IDBI capital markets for online broking and at later stages, more broking firms would be roped in, he disclosed. On the credit card service, he said, “Of our 35 million customers, the debit card has covered a small proportion. With the launch of our own credit card, the spectrum of financial services being offered would widen and so would the number of customers availing of the facility. Why should a customer banking with us have to go to other services provider for his financial needs?” The bank, he added, was already offering a life insurance cover for which it had tied up with TATA AIG and also formed a joint venture insurance broking company, PNB Principal Advisory Co, for insurance broking.

Talking about a high proportion of farmers resorting to borrowing money from the unorganised sector or not borrowing at all, he said the need was to bring more people under banking. “Over 70 per cent of people are either borrowing from the unorganised sector or not borrowing at all. We are striving to make the banking service more comfortable and within the reach of more farmers.”