Bathinda, January 24
The Rs 40-crore project for the beautification of the city has come close to seeing the light of the day as technical tender for the project was floated by the authorities concerned at the Municipal Corporation, here today.

Though the local contractors are still not satisfied, but apparently the project has cleared many of the hurdles created by them.

The local contractors had accused the Municipal Corporation of doing injustice to them by issuing contracts to a single party and that too from outside as the terms and conditions were of a nature that no small-scale contractor could follow.

Giving details, senior MC officials said it would cover all the streets and the 13 main roads in the city. Roads which are more than 80 feet wide would be uplifted by raising the dividers and pavements. Roads which are only 45 feet wide, would have just pavements on both the sides. Roads less in width than this would have a centre strip to indicate a divider.

As per the plans, Rs 3.50 crore has been sanctioned for creating a storm water drainage system that would cross through Mall Road, Powerhouse Road and would be linked to a pond in Sanjay Nagar. The installation of some 150 horsepower motor pumps has also been included in the scheme.

The project would be given a time-frame of one year for completion. The plan also has a detailed scheme for beautification of 84 parks in the city which are in the possession of the Municipal Corporation. The renovation of streetlights and drains have also been included in the project.

Sources in the MC informed that all six applicants who had filed for the tenders were outsiders and today they were supposed to submit their details. But only four of them did so. The remaining two firms have withdrawn.

Confirming details, superintending engineer B.D. Singla said, “The final tender, which is the financial bid, would be opened only for those who get 60 per cent marks in the analysis of the technical tender. The analysis would be completed tentatively by Monday.

Speaking about the funds available, MC commissioner K.K.Yadav said, “The funds would be provided by the PIDB and the Blue Fox land has been transferred to the PIDB for this purpose. The PIDB is supposed to generate the maximum funds by utilising the piece of the land.”

Replying to a query about the sale of that land, Yadav said it was not pre-decided to sell it but if the need arose, then the step can be taken. The amount would be credited to the Municipal Corporation’s account, he added.

Abohar, January 24
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the local municipal council to refund Rs 10 lakh with six per cent interest to a resident Shiv Lal within a month failing which the amount will have to be paid with nine per cent interest.

According to information available, the council had fixed auction of the 25-acre land on September 12, 2006. The highest bid was Rs 11 crore but the bidder later failed to deposit 25 per cent of the total amount of the bid in the prescribed period. The council had forfeited Rs 10 lakh deposited by the highest bidder as earnest money.

One Shiv Lal had offered Rs 10 crore for the land during the bid. The council had not refunded his earnest money of Rs 10 lakh even after cancelling the auction.

Again on September 20, 2007, the council advertised a short-term notice that the land would be auctioned.

The council had told Shiv Lal that his earnest money was utilised to disburse salary to the staff besides paying the electricity bills.

He then approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The state government thus cancelled the proposed auction coupled with auction of other immovable properties by the local council.

Now, the council has been directed to refund the earnest money to Shiv Lal along with the interest within a month.

Intriguingly, the council had not been able to pay the arrears to maintain the electricity supply to its water works.

Bathinda, January 24
The presence of an officer, suspended on graft charges in April last year from Bathinda Municipal Corporation, at the opening of the technical tender of the much hyped Rs 40-crore city beautification project, created a sense of uneasiness among the local contractors and the people.

It was reported that the then Superintendent Engineer, MC Bathinda, V.K. Setia had been nabbed red-handed by sleuths of the Vigilance Bureau (VB) on April 4, 2007, from the MC office while accepting money as illegal gratification.

At that time, Kewal Kumar of the ITI had informed the vigilance department that Setia had been demanding Rs 15,000 from him to approve the map of a site, but the deal was settled at Rs 10,000. The sleuths then arranged a trap and caught him red-handed.

An inquiry in the case has been going on but about four months back, he was reportedly reinstated and posted at Chandigarh as SE (Projects), Local Bodies. Today, his appearance at the MC commissioner’s office at the time of floating of the tender, created a flutter among contractors who were already uneasy as they were not eligible according to the conditions for the tender.

When contacted, Setia said, “I was here on behalf of the Chief Engineer (Projects), A.K. Prabhakar, as he was away in Delhi. I resisted but in the absence of any senior official, I was sent here.” Setia added that he was not involved in the project.

Confirming his presence, K.K.Yadav, commissioner, MC, said, “He was here as a representative of the Chief Engineer (Projects), as he himself could not be present. The Chief Engineer’s presence at the time was a must.”

Kewal Kumar, the complainant against Setia, said, “It is shocking that despite the ongoing inquiry in the case, he was present in the main committee for issuing tenders.” 

Abohar, January 24
Nearly 1.5 lakh residents in this sub-divisional town of political heavyweights have been deprived of potable drinking water for the past two days.

S.R. Bajaj SDE of the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board (PWSSB) said the Punjab State Electricity Board had disconnected the supply, as the municipal council had not paid the arrears besides current bill against power consumption.

Enquiries made by The Tribune from different sources indicated that the PSEB had earlier also disconnected electricity supply to the water works and sewerage disposal centre as the post-dated cheque issued by them reportedly bounced.

The arrears had mounted to Rs 10 lakh besides Rs 55 lakh on account of metered supply for streetlights. The council had handed over the water and sewerage system to the PWSSB but the electricity charges were paid by the council, which had put its staff on deputation in the Board for billing and collection of bills.

Despite several warnings by the local bodies, the finance stripped council is unable to collect the whopping Rs 2.57 crore from the residents.

Ram Kishan Mittal, state vice-president of the BJP local bodies’ cell and Shivraj Goyal, district vice-president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, blamed the Congress for the present situation.

They said a team led by the Chief Vigilance Officer had initiated a probe into the malpractices in which the executive officer Diwan Chand Verma (now under suspension) was also allegedly involved but the Congress leaders allowed him to issue cheques against bills footed by some selective contractors.

Verma was to retire towards month end but he was allegedly permitted to exercise administrative powers in contravention of the instructions issued by the government.

The ruling Congress should have paid the bills on a priority basis, they lamented.

However, a senior Congress councillor Vimal Thathai criticised the PSEB for taking such a drastic step that deprives the citizens of drinking water. While questioning the propriety of disconnecting electricity supply to the water works, Thathai said the present government had withheld annual development grants to the Congress-led councils to harass the public and raise dissent against the opposition.

Bathinda, January 24
“All arrangements for the Punjab State Panchayati Tournament for boys and girls in the Under-16 category have been completed. The tournament will be held at the sports stadium here from January 27 to 29 and we expect these games to be a big affair,” Pargat Singh, director, sports, said while talking to media persons here today.

Over 2,500 sportspersons and officials are expected to take part in the tournament, which would be inaugurated by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on January 27.

Speaking to TNS, Pargat Singh said, “In this tournament, teams comprising either a village panchayat or a school would compete with each other. These teams have been selected on the basis of their victories at the block and district levels. This time, these games have been organised only in the Under-16 category but more age-groups would also be added soon.”

Deputy commissioner Rahul Tewari said, “Events like athletics, basketball, hockey, kabaddi and volleyball would be held.”

Sukhwinder Singh Buttar, district sports officer, informed that events like volleyball (girls) would be held at the grounds of Government Senior Secondary School (Girls) while hockey and volleyball for boys would be held at the Police Lines. Basketball matches would be held at the Khalsa School and the remaining games at the sports stadium, here.”

Bathinda, January 24
The Bollywood flick, ‘Taare Zameen Par,’ focusing on dyslexia, a learning disorder found among kids, has struck a chord with school kids making a beeline for the theatre where the film is being screened. While educationists have met with little success in achieving the goal of inclusive education, the film has dissected the problem, weaving the story around a child who suffers because no one recognises that he is a slow learner.

No wonder the reactions too are positive. “Neglecting the child and not understanding his special needs is the root cause of learning disabilities,” says Urmilla Yadav, principal of U Life Public School.

Bodh Raj, principal of Lajwanti Public Jain School, says that the message of the movie is that all children are not similar. “Simply using harsh methods to make the child learn, proves counter-productive and both the parents and the teachers should realise it,” he adds.

Nisha Sharma, a ten-year-old, said the movie showed how odds can be overcome with determination. Dalbir Singh, a student of Police Public School observed that parents these days do not have much time to care for their children. “How can such parents inspire their kids,” he asked.

The film has been exempted from entertainment tax and the theatre contractor, Satpal Bansal, has issued concessional tickets at Rs 10 for children. “I want every student to see this movie. Teachers accompanying the students are getting free entry,” he dded.

Faridkot, January 24
To observe the Anti-leprosy Day, a state-level function would be held at Nirog Bal Ashram in Kotkapura, near here, on January 25. On the eve of Anti-leprosy Day, an awareness rally was brought out in the sub-division today.

Sham Lal Thukral, SMO, civil hospital, Kotkapura, informed that Neelam Bajaj, civil surgeon, flagged of the rally that passed through the markets and roads of the town.

While holding placards, buntings and banners bearing information related to the disease, the students of Malwa Nursing Institute, Baba Farid College of Nursery, Government School Boys and Nirog Bal Ashram Senior Secondary School participated in the rally.

The information read that the disease was curable, spread from bacteria and was curable. Its treatment was free of cost in all government hospitals.

He said by organising rallies, skits, declamation contests and seminars, discrimination towards lepers could be reduced.

Among others, activists of the Bharat Vikas Parishad, the Sant Nirankari Sewa Dal and the Sat Kartar Youth Bhalai Club participated in the rally.

Health minister Lakshmi Kanta Chawla, who would preside over the state-level function tomorrow, has announced weeklong programmes to disseminate awareness among the public about the disease and the myths associated with it.

Bathinda, January 24
The HQ Chetak Corps said today through a press note that the sepoy Asha Singh, a serving Army person of Bathinda Cantonment, who had been allegedly involved in the Karamjit murder case, has been placed in the custody of the district police.

Confirming the fact, SHO, Nahianwala, Boota Singh, said, “The police has taken the accused on remand and the weapon and slugger, used in the crime and the mobile phone, from which the accused had made the calls to the family for ransom, have been recovered. Investigation is going on to ascertain some more facts.”

It may be mentioned that the district police had arrested five out of six accused on Wednesday and claimed to have solved the abduction and killing of Karamjit Singh (25) of Faridkot.—TNS

Barnala, January 24
With the arrest of three persons, the local police claimed to have busted an inter-state gang of car thieves. Police also recovered three cars and many fake registration copies.

SSP P.S. Garewal told media persons that acting on a tip-off, a police team led by CIA in-charge Sanjeev Goyal held a ‘naka’ at Barnala- Thekriwal road. During the search, the police detained Jagjeet Singh, travelling in a car bearing number PB04 L-2096 and Jaspal Singh, travelling in car number PB- 4L-6060 for interrogation. Later, the police arrested their accomplice Pawan Kumar with a fake RC number PB-45D-1331.

Garewal said during interrogation, Pawan revealed that he along with the alleged kingpin Jaspreet, sold a car to one Sakktar Singh of Haryana.

The trio also revealed that they were six in numbers and were stealing cars for long. They allegedly use to get the stolen car registered in connivance with two clerks of the district transport office, Faridkot. The SSP said three accused along with kingpin Jaspreet were still at large.

Fazilka, January 24 
Punjab BJP vice-president and local MLA Surjit Kumar Jyani today presented a cheque for Rs 20 lakh under Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan to the principal of Government High School, Asafwala village, for the construction and repair of its building. Earlier, he paid tributes at the 1971 Indo-Pak war memorial.

The MLA inaugurated a block in the school complex constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 1.70 lakh. He distributed cheques for 1.70 lakh each to the heads of the Government Middle School, Pakka Chisti, Kerian and Kherowali Dhab villages, the Government Primary Schools, Number 3 and Canal Colony, Fazilka, for construction of blocks in these schools.

Jyani also distributed a grant of Rs 60,000 to the Government Middle School, situated in Kerian village, to carry out the repair of its building. — OC

Abohar, January 24
The BJP has stepped up its efforts to avert the anti-government demonstration planned to be held by the District Kumhar Sabha and the Joint Forum of Trade and Farmers’ Unions at Fazilka on February 1.

The state BJP secretary, Kamal Sharma held a meeting with R.K. Goyal, former BJP MLA, here last night. Residents of Choohriwala Dhanna village narrated the horrible tale of the Diwali night. Sharma assured them that justice would be meted out within the next few days. — OC

Muktsar, January 24
Punjab Vidhan Sabha Deputy Speaker Satpal Gosain would hoist the National Flag here to mark the Republic Day celebrations on January 26.

The march past by the police contingents, tableaux, folk dances and a cultural programme by children would be the highlights of the day. Gosain would also address citizens on that day.

ABOHAR: SDM N.S. Brar will unfurl the National Flag at the official Republic Day function to be held at Nehru Stadium on Saturday.

Local MLA Sunil Jakhar will be the chief guest at the Republic Day function to be held in the DAV campus. Principal B.C. Josan said the teachers and the students of all the institutions in the DAV campus would be present at the function. The celebrations would be followed by annual sports events. — OC