Jalandhar, December 30
It is bad news for the farmers of the once-water-surplus Jalandhar belt. The once plentiful commodity has fallen with alarming regularity.

Of the 103 gray blocks (where subterranean water is the lowest ever) in the state, 10 blocks are in this district alone. They are Bhogpur, Jalandhar East, Jalandhar West, Adampur, Phillaur, Rurka Kalan, Nur Mahal, Nakodar, Lohian and Shahkot.

Going by the figures collected by the Land and Water Conservation Department, the district is now being counted ahead of the gray areas like Sangrur and Kapurthala, where ground water is being used at an annual rate of over 200 percent. The figure for Jalandhar is now 254 percent annually.

The water in these areas is going down by the rate of approximately 0.53 meters. The worst ratio is for Shahkot where the average is 1 metre.

Scientists who have been studying the phenomena, point out that ground water comes from under ground aquifers, which are fed from water trickling down through the soil.

Agriculture with irrigation is considered sustainable only if the amount of ground water used is equal to that being replenished. Usually it is extracted much faster than it’s natural replenishment rate, they add.

Farmers too are a worried lot since they have to spend huge sums to deepen their tube well bores every year.

The worst affected are the marginal farmers who cannot afford to do so and are forced to go in for other un-remunerative crops.

The affected people have already started pressing for a revamp of the canal network in the Doaba belt.

The state of the World report, 1998, by the World Watch Institute, USA, estimates that the gap between water use and sustainable yield of the aquifer is so high that the aquifer under Punjab could be depleted by year 2025.

A former Punjab Agricultural University vice-chancellor, Dr KS Aulakh, says on record that the future projections by 2010 are that the entire central Punjab will have a water table below a 16-metre depth.

As compared to 2001, the water table in the central districts will fall by 14 per cent in 2005, 34 per cent in 2010 and 75 per cent by 2020.

Incidentally, 2020 is the year by when the country is expected to become a developed nation.

Jalandhar, December 30
The city residents had to face great inconvenience on Sunday, as the railway crossing near the main bus stand on the busy GT Road was closed for repair work.

Though the level of the crossing had been raised last month, the carpeting work was not completed.

As the repair work started, the commuters were forced to take long detours. While the outgoing traffic from the city was diverted towards Laddowali Road, those coming to the city had to take left from the Defence Colony traffic lights.

The outstation commuters were hit the most. Huge traffic jams were seen near the BSF Chowk as the two alternative passages remained congested for the entire day.

To clear bottlenecks, the traffic police stopped all buses on the BSF Chowk. But this aggravated problems of the commuters who had to alight nearly 1.5 kms before the bus stand.

The outstation commuters were hit the most, as they had to walk down till the bus stand along with their baggage.

Auto drivers and rickshawpullers had a field day. Many of then were seen overcharging passengers.

Jalandhar, December 30
While it is often said Jalandhar is a city with the maximum number of hospitals in the entire Asia, it is a lesser known fact that the city is also a hub for treating sports injuries with a large number of specialists in the field.

All prominent athletes and players of hockey, kabaddi, wrestling and football take their treatment from the local orthopaedicians, orthopaedic surgeons and physiotherapists, many of whom specialise in the treatment of sportspersons.

Quite a few numbers of private hospitals have even erected the signboards outside their premises highlighting this speciality.

Since the city is a venue for various international and national hockey events, other sports tournaments and training camps at Burlton Park, Hans Raj Stadium, PAP, BSF, CRPF and army grounds, this could have been another reason for the growing speciality in the region.

The city also has a sizable number of sportspersons of international stature in an array of sports fields, including hockey, athletics, wrestling and kabaddi, all of whom are prone to different types of injuries.

Dr Sanjiv Goel, orthopaedic surgeon and specialist in orthoscopy and orthoplasty at Guru Nanak Mission Hospital, explains, “Sportspersons are prone to injuries due to strain and stress in specific parts of the body. While ligament ruptures are common in hockey players, athletes suffer from sprains in ankles. Shoulder dislocations and wrist problems are common in those practising badminton, bowling and javelin throw. Various lines of treatments have to be followed, including giving splints support, recommending rest or laser heat or physiotherapy. Wherever surgery is required, we prefer keyhole surgery so that the injury heals up fast.”

The specialist has recently treated a player from Kolkata who was here for the national police games.

Another private orthopaedic surgeon, Dr Harpreet Singh, said he had treated hundreds of sportsmen in his hospital in the past seven years, most of them hockey players with shin injuries in the tibia or those suffering tearing of the cartilage.

“Recently, an international kabaddi player, Lakhwinder Singh, took treatment and has now almost recovered”, he said.

Dr Umesh, yet another sports specialist, said, “The maximum number of patients coming to my hospital are players suffering from some stress and strain of joints. A couple of football players with injury in meniscus region due to twisting of knee have taken medical remedies from me. Kabaddi players with ligament tearing also walk in. Many players take physiotherapy treatment as well”.

Head of the department of physiotherapy at Lyallpur Khalsa College Dr Raju Sharma said physiotherapy had often helped treat players suffering from strains, sprains, ligamentous and muscular injuries.

“Prominent players, including athletes Manjit and Rajwinder weightlifter Dalbir Singh, have taken treatment at our centre on the college campus. PAP hockey players often come for consultation or treatment. Jumpers and gymnasts suffering from groin injuries too are our common patients. The treatment goes on for minimum three weeks to maximum six months,” he said.

A lecturer of physiotherapy at the Apeejay College of Fine Arts, Dr Smriti Kapoor, said she had done postgraduation in the course with specialisation in treating sports injuries.

She said she had worked as clinical physiotherapist for sometime in the BSF and helped in the treatment of boxers and wrestlers from the force.

She had even been a part of the medical team accompanying the players at National Games in Guwahati recently.

Nawanshahr, December 30
Desilting work to ensure smooth flow of rain water through siphons, in as many as 11 choes (rivulets), has been going on at a war pace in the district.

It is being carried out under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) scheme. A sum of Rs 103 lakh has been earmarked for the project.

Deputy commissioner, Gurpal Singh Bhatti, accompanied by SDM, Arshdeep Singh and officials of the drainage department, today, said a sum of Rs 9 lakh had been released to the drainage department for desilting of rivulets at Rail Mazara and Tonsa villages under NREGA scheme.

Besides solving problems like non-availability of irrigation water at the tail ends or fury of floods during heavy rains, being faced by the villagers, it would ensure employment to 9,000 unskilled workers for at least 100 days.

Earlier, the work of de-silting could not be undertaken due to paucity of funds, said the deputy commissioner. Bhatti took stock of the on-going project at Rail Mazara and Tonsa villages in the district.

He further said job cards of 210 families have been prepared under NREGA scheme in Rail Mazara village. As many as 100 women labourers are also working on the project.

Bhatti asked the village panchayat and officials of the drainage department to make proper arrangements for ensuring basic amenities for the labourers.

Jalandhar, December 30
The commissioner, Jalandhar division, S.R. Ladhar, said today that over 2,500 NRIs were expected to attend their state-level annual meeting at Bath Castle on Phagwara Road on January 6.

Ladhar, who is also convener of the meeting, said Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal would attend the meeting and hold discussions with them while also redressing their common problems.

He said only those NRIs would attend the meeting who have settled abroad permanently. He said those interested in attending the meeting could get the registration done with the deputy commissioner of their district.

He said cultural events would also be organised on the day. It is learnt that the first leg of the meeting is scheduled to be held at Chandigarh on January 5.