Kothe Phula Singh Wale (Bathinda), June 4
Two labourers of village Kothe Phula Singh Wale in Bathinda district were today buried in a well while digging after the soil caved in.

After a rescue operation that continued for nearly two hours, the two were pulled out, but one of them, Raja Singh (34), succumbed to his injuries soon after reaching the civil hospital here.

According to the villagers, Raja, along with Shinder Singh and Happy Singh, who was injured, were engaged in digging the well in the fields of Pal Singh, as the water level in the well had declined. They are all residents of Kothe Sandhuan Wale village.

Shinder Singh, the eyewitness, said that Raja and Happy were digging up the well while he was throwing the soil out.

All of a sudden, at around 1.15 pm, the sides of the well caved in and they got buried when around 10-feet deep soil fell on them.

He immediately shouted for help and a person working in the nearby fields called villagers for help on his mobile phone.

Soon after receiving the message, villagers and ASP P.K. Yadav along with cops from Kili Nihal Singh Wala police post and Nehianwala police station reached the spot. Two JCB machines and a number of tractors were deployed for the purpose.

SDM Bathinda KPS Mahi and Naib Tehsildar Karnail Singh arranged for the ambulance and a fire tender.

At around 4 pm, Raja Singh was pulled out and rushed to the civil hospital, Bathinda, where, he soon succumbed to his injuries. The deceased is survived by his wife and three children including two daughters.

When contacted, ASP PK Yadav said, “There was negligence on the part of both the labourers and the employer and a case would registered after thorough investigation. Legal opinion has already been sought in this regard.”

It may be mentioned that under section 144 of the CrPC, the district administration had restricted such works without prior permission.

Bathinda, June 4
The Congress MLAs of this cotton belt seem to be all set to make the Congress party’s protest rally at Moga tomorrow a success.

This protest has been organised against the “total failure” of the SAD-BJP government in ensuring free and fair polls to the Zila Parishads, Block Samitis and Gram Panchayats in the state recently.

The TNS spoke to 10 odd Congress MLAs from Bathinda, Mansa, Faridkot and Muktsar districts and most of them have been busy making arrangements to ferry Congress workers who have suffered because of the alleged ‘high-handedness’ of the SAD.

It was also found that those MLAs, who have openly supported Capt Amrinder Singh recently, were not much willing to attend the rally.

MLA Bathinda, Harminder Singh Jassi, said, “I am a disciplined Congress worker and will be attending the rally at Moga tomorrow. A large number of Congress workers from Bathinda have suffered during the recently held elections. I will take at least 3,000 workers with me to make the rally a success.”

MLA Guruharsahai, Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, said, “I will be attending the rally with a large number of persons from my area. We have not forced anyone to attend the rally, because this time, the people themselves are fed up with this government. And such rallies are a peaceful way to hold protest in a democracy. Moreover, our party’s national general secretary Margaret Alva is also coming, so it will be a successful rally.”

MLA Muktsar, Kanwarjit (Sunny) Singh Brar, said, “I will be attending the rally. I have also invited all Congress workers from across the state to attend it so that it can be successful. But it won’t be that easy for our workers to attend the rally as our party is not in power and so we won’t be able to arrange for transport. So, a majority of the workers will have to use their own transport. Still, I will go there with at least 1000 workers.”

MLA Barnala, Kewal Singh Dhillon, confirmed his presence at the rally. “More than 1500 Congress workers from my constituency will accompany me there.”

MLA Faridkot, Avtar Singh Brar, also confirmed that he will be attending the rally. “Around 1000 persons will accompany me for our party’s protest against the high handedness of the SAD-BJP government.”

MLA Talwandi Sabo, Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu, said, “More than 1500 people from Talwandi Sabo and its adjoining villages will be accompanying me there.”

MLA Nathana, Ajaib Singh Bhatti, said, “I will attend the rally along with all the Congress workers who have been affected by the SAD.”

MLA Pakka Kalan, Makhan Singh, said, “I won’t be able to attend the rally as I have an important meeting to attend at Kullu in Himachal Pradesh.”

MLA Sardoolgarh, Ajit Inder Singh Mofer, also said he won’t be able to attend the rally because of some important work in his constituency.

MLA Mansa, Sher Singh Gagowal, also expressed his inability in attending the rally because his wife is ill.

Moga, June 4
Even after 24 years of the operation Blue Star launched by the Indian Army on the Golden Temple complex at Amritsar, the wounds of bloodshed, it seems, have not yet healed.

Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale is still seen as a 'hero' of the community, particularly in his home turf in Moga district.

Rode, the native village of Bhindranwale, is just 20 km away from the district headquarters here. Although his wife along with her children had shifted to her parental village near Badhni Kalan but his brothers are still living in the village.

These days, the posters of Bhindranwale had flooded the markets of Moga and other small townships in the district.

Not only this, sun protection screens for cars have also come up with the posters of Bhindranwale and are easily available in the markets.

Sikh youths could be seen carrying posters of their 'hero' openly during all common religious functions - birth anniversaries of the gurus and other important religious occasions.

Simranjit Singh Mann, former member of the Lok Sabha and president of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), who was the senior superintendent of police at Amritsar when the Indian Army attacked the Golden Temple complex, while talking to The Tribune, said the Sikh community could never forget the incident because the union government did nothing to heal the wounds of the community.

Mann, who had friendly relations with Bhindranwale, quit the job under protest on the day the Golden Temple complex was attacked and fled away from the city. But later, he was arrested from the Indo-Nepal border.

Demanding from the Parliament to apologise for the operation Blue Star, Mann termed the attack as genocide committed on the community.

He said that it was no less than that of the 'Armenian Genocide'. It was an attack on the Sikh community as a whole, Mann added.

Karnail Singh Peer Mohammad, president of the All India Sikh Students Federation, was of the view that the attack was pre-planned with an aim to suppress and wipe out the community.

The community was targeted in the operation Blue Star, in the riots after the death of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, and during the two decades of militancy that, according to him, claimed the lives of over two lakh Sikh youths.

In reply to a question, he said the demand for a separate homeland for Sikhs had never left the minds of the community and it could be judged well from the fact that Joginder Singh Vedanti, jathedar of the Akal Takht, the supreme temporal authority of the Sikhs, had also openly advocated for it during his recent visit to the US.

Bhai Mohkam Singh, who was a close confidant and spokesman of Bhindrawale, while talking to The Tribune on telephone, said Bhindranwale was still alive in the hearts of all the Sikhs.

"Bhindranwale will always look young in his photographs/posters and will never die but will inspire the coming generations of the Sikh community for ages," he added.

It was learnt from sources that many Sikh organisations have planned to honour Jathedar Vedanti during the 'ghallughara divas' being celebrated at Amritsar on Friday for extending support to the demand for a separate Sikh homeland.

All the political and religious organisations of the community, irrespective of whether they were hardliners or moderates, were celebrating the 'ghallughara divas' in the memory of those who lost their lives while trying to convey a message to the world that on the issue of attack on the Golden Temple complex, they all were united, irrespective of their ideology.

Bathinda, June 4
Due to the excessive use of chemical fertilisers in this cotton belt, the quality of groundwater has deteriorated and that is why, a large chunk of people are suffering from ailments like cancer and other skin problems.

But now, the farmers have found a way out. A huge number of farmers here have started sowing Dhaincha, commonly known as ‘Jantar’, which is an organic fertiliser.

Gurmit Singh Buttar, director, Punjab Agricultural University Regional Research Station, Bathinda, said, “Underground water in the cotton belt is of poor quality and is deteriorating day by day. Irrigating the soil using underground water leads to deterioration of soil health and less produce. Jantar roots have nodules which help in fixation of atmospheric nitrogen and enhance the soil fertility.”

When Jantar attains an age of six to eight weeks, it is buried into the soil using tractor discs.

“It results in saving around 25 kilogram of nitrogen per acre or 55 kg urea per acre. A farmer can save around Rs 300 per acre by sowing Jantar instead of using any chemical fertiliser. So, by burying this crop in the soil, it improves soil health and reduces harmful effect of salts present in the underground water,” Buttar informed.

Another soil scientist from PAU informed, “For sowing Jantar, around 20 kg of seed is required per acre. Farmers these days are more dependent on chemical fertilisers but such things, like Jantar, have long term benefits as it improves physical and chemical properties of the soil.”

Jantar is sown after the harvesting of rabi crops but before paddy transplantation and potato sowing.

To encourage the farmers to adopt this green fertiliser, the state agriculture department distributes it free of cost.

A potato farmer, Harchand Singh from Bhai Rupa village, who has sown Jantar in 12 acres, informed, “We have been sowing it for the last many years and every year, our yield increase by a few quintals. Moreover, it has increased the quality of soil and even saves a few thousand rupees, which we can spend on some other things.”

Bathinda, June 4
Reeling under the impact of inflation, people of Punjab would be forced to bear an additional burden to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore due to the hike in prices of petrol and diesel announced today.

“The farmers would be worst hit by the hike as they would have to pay more for transportation of their produce and their plight would become more miserable,” said Shingara Singh Maan, president of Bathinda district unit of the Bharatiya Kisan Union Ekta (BKUE).

The price of diesel has been increased 21 times since April 1999 and the cost of diesel had gone up from Rs 10.20 per litre in 1999 to Rs 34.25 per litre in June 2008.

A 220-litre drum of diesel, purchased by the farmers for agricultural purposes would now cost Rs 7,535 as compared to Rs 2,244 in 1999.

With an increase of Re 1 per litre in the price of diesel in February this year, the price of a drum rose to Rs 6,875 but an all time high increase of Rs 3 per litre in one go would push up the price by Rs 660 per drum.

The paddy season would commence next week and the impact of hike in the price of diesel would be visible in the higher cost of transportation.

According to information provided by the petroleum dealers’ association, there are an estimated 2,485 petrol pumps in Punjab, including 119 pumps operated by Reliance and the additional burden due to the increase in the price of diesel would be Rs 985 crore while the increased petrol prices would cause a burden of Rs 915 crore and with inclusion of taxes, the total burden on this account would be around Rs 2000 crore.

The debt-ridden farmers of Punjab were already passing through a critical phase and this might prove fatal for many farmers, Shingara Singh said.

“On the one hand the union“Diesel and petrol would now cost Rs 34.25 and Rs 55.40 per litre in Punjab and the farmers would be hit hard leading to more suicide cases in the region,” said a Kaka Singh Katra , a local farmer.

Bathinda, June 4
With the central government announcing an increase of Rs 5 and Rs 3 per litre in prices of petrol and diesel and hike of Rs 50 in price of LPG from tonight, the petrol pump owners in the region adopted devious means to ward off the customers.

The intentions of the Pump owners were clear as they wanted to earn some profit on their existing stock and were reluctant to sell petrol and diesel at old rates.

Some of the petrol pumps of Bharat Petroleum at Goniana Mandi refused to refill the vehicles on the pretext that the machines were out of order.

A resident of Goniana Mandi, Gagpreet complained that a petrol pump in the heart of the city was charging Rs 55 per litre for petrol since morning.

Inspector in the food supply department, Santosh Kumar Gupta who came to assess the situation, said that the petrol pump did not have enough stock to cater to the residents.

Long queues of vehicles and two-wheelers were seen at every pump for diesel and petrol in Bathinda as the people also wanted to save some money by getting their fuel tanks full before night.

Pumps in the villages were flooded with vehicles and people waited for their turn for a number of hours.

“The long queues are for diesel and the position in respect has not changed much,” said a worker at the Local Bharat Petroleum, Meenaksi Enterprise.

Bathinda, June 4
A Bathinda boy, Sumit Kalsi, has done it again. He made the city proud by securing 6th rank in the AIEEE examinations in the state.

A student of Harbhajan Institute, Sumit was placed 147th in the IIT examination earlier this year.

Aspiring to be a computer engineer, Sumit who really worked hard and studied for 10 to 12 hours a day to earn this dual distinction, attributes his success to his physics teacher Karan Singh Jasol who constantly persuaded and motivated him to put in his best efforts.

Fond of reading and sports, 17-year-old computer savvy, Sumit says that his day starts by reading newspaper and loves to play table tennis and kills time surfing the net and watching cricket.

‘What is important is to get your fundamentals and concepts right because mugging up things doesn’t help in the long run’, he told this correspondent when asked about the secret of his success. He said that sample papers and mock test helped him in enriching knowledge.

Bathinda, June 4
Concerned at the fast-depleting groundwater level, the government has made rooftop rainwater harvesting mandatory in the zonal plans of all to-be-built buildings.

Dalip Kumar, special secretary, irrigation, Punjab, while talking to media persons, stated this here today.

He said that henceforth, no building zonal plan  in the state would be approved without this provision

Abohar, June 4
Scores of farmers from Shergarh, Dhingawali and Waryamkhera villages marched through main roads of the town today, braving 45 degree Celsius temperature, and held a daylong sit-in, which they said would be continued for an indefinite period inside the canal colony.

Finding that the executive engineer of  theirrigation department was not present in his office, agitated farmers indulged in damaging furniture to express their anguish.

The police rushed to the colony, but by then senior functionaries of the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti had calmed down the protesters.

Almost all employees had by then vacated the office leaving the official records at the mercy of the agitators.

The farmers said their villages were connected to the Lambi, Ramsara and Dhingawali sub-canals, but they hadn't been getting water for irrigation for the last three-four months.

More than 50 complaints in this regard had fallen on deaf ears of authorities. The matter was recently brought to the notice of CM and irrigation minister, but in vain.

With mercury soaring at its best, the situation had turned so serious that they had to purchase water at Rs 400 per tanker from the neighbouring Sriganganagar district to quench thirst of the children who need more water for drinking during the summer vacations.

Intriguingly, the farmers of these villages had been agitating against the department, alleging discrimination in supply of canal water for the last five-six years, but no government had found a permanent solution to their problem, Bhag Singh a progressive farmer rued.

Abohar, June 4
Responding to a call given by the party high command, the Sriganganagar District Congress Committee today organised a protest march against the Vasundhara Raje government at Sriganganagar, 40 km from here.

The party workers later gheraoed the district collectorate for about two hours. Congress workers assembled in the Nehru Park.

Former ministers Hira Lal Indora, Radheshyam, K.C. Bishnoi and the parliamentary secretary arranged for vehicles to ferry workers from different parts of the district.

A former minister, Chander Bhan lambasted the BJP government in Rajasthan for adopting irrational policies and failures on all fronts.

In his address to the gathering inside the park, he alleged that farmers had not been able to finish the sowing of cotton at the scheduled time due to non-availability of canal water.

The farmers, he said, had earlier been ruined by natural calamities including frost that completely damaged mustard crop in west Rajasthan.

DCC president Prithipal Singh Randhawa presided over the rally. Other senior participants included district in-charge Surinder Dadri, coordinator Harshvardhan Singh Rathore, general secretary Kashmiri Lal Jasuja, women’s wing district chief Babita Arora Walia, councillors Bhupinder Kaur Turna and Maninder Kaur Nanda.

The workers marched to the DC complex through main roads and sloganeered condemning the government its for “anti-people policies”.

Later, they staged a sit-in, blocking entry to all the four gates of the complex for two hours.

Senior leaders submitted a memorandum to the district collector listing their demands which included supply of sufficient water in the canals.

Abohar, June 4
With the arrest of a local resident on Tuesday in connection with the alleged smuggling of country-made-foreign-liquor to Rajasthan, the fear that some mafia was active in the region received substance.

The catch by Sriganganagar police has once again exposed the state intelligence agencies besides the excise and taxation department.

According to the information available, the Sriganganagar police on Monday evening intercepted a truck bearing registration number RJ 13 GA 2022 as it entered the Sadhuwali village on the Abohar-Sriganganagar road.

On search, 3,552 bottles of noted liquor brands in 296 cartons and 17,424 in 363 cartons were recovered.

The police arrested the driver and his assistant, Sarwan Singh and Kulwant Singh respectively, both of Kandhwala village of this sub-division.

They reportedly informed the investigating officers that someone from Chandigarh gave them the consignment to transport it to the deserts of Barmer in Rajasthan.

The consignment was to be further smuggled to prohibited areas of Gujarat. Further interrogation led to the arrest of one Mahabir Kumhar of Dangarkhera village, 7 km from Abohar. A court in Sriganganagar sent the trio on police remand for two days.

Sources said the investigating team could not believe the driver and cleaner’s version that someone from Chandigarh had asked them to transport the consignment. The accused did not disclose the identity of the person.

The Khuyiansarwar police in the Abohar sub-division have been frisking the passengers in buses plying on the inter-state route here and boasted of making small recoveries of poppy husk.

That a truckload of liquor went unnoticed during its 325 km road journey between Chandigarh and Abohar and further 40 km to Sriganganagar has rattled the administrative and business circles.

It may be mentioned here that so far, such truckloads had been intercepted by the Rajasthan police nearly 10 times in the past three years at Sriganganagar, Hanumangarh, Pallu and other neighbouring areas.

But neither the Punjab Police nor the excise and taxation department or any other agency in Punjab made effort to coordinate the follow-up, the sources said.

Abohar, June 4
Stray dogs, who had been roaming around the places earmarked for cremating animals, attacked a sheep yard in village Choohriwala Dhanna near here past midnight and had reportedly devoured 15 sheep besides leaving 25 seriously injured, sources said.

Owner of the yard, Bal Ram and other residents had also challenged them with sticks after listening to the shrieks during the wee hours today.

Last year too, the dogs had attacked the same yard besides about a dozen similar places in other villages of the sub-division.

The residents said they had neither received any compensation against the loss suffered during the past year due to the dog menace nor the authorities took any remedial measure.

The stray dogs, during the last three years, had grievously wounded six persons, which included minors and elderly men. Officials have been trying to pass the buck, the residents regretted.

Barnala, June 4
One person was killed in a road mishap here today. As per the available information, a bus, bearing registration number PB 13N-9111, bound for Sangrur from Barnala, hit a scooter, having the registration number PB19-4454.

The scooter riders were on their way from Thikriwal village to Sangrur. The bus hit the scooter from behind near Gursewak Nagar, Barnala.

The two scooter riders, Jagdev Singh and Bhajan Singh, fell on the road and sustained head injuries. The person at the wheel managed to flee from the site.

Both the injured were then hospitalised at the civil hospital, Barnala. The condition of Jagdev Singh, a resident of Naiwal village, was critical.

He was referred to Ludhiana, but on the way succumbed to injuries. Bhajan Singh’s condition is said to be critical. Police has started investigation into the matter.