Bathinda, June 17
While the Bathinda town, which remained submerged under water for nearly 48 hours following heavy downpour on Sunday, limped back to normalcy, the local authorities held the early monsoons and heaviest rainfall since 1999 responsible for the sufferings of the people.

“We were making necessary preparations for the monsoons and steps were under way to ensure that the normal life was not disrupted due to rains but advancement of monsoons by about 15 days and 127 mm of record rains in few hours thwarted all our attempts to avoid flooding of low lying areas”, Vijay Zade, officiating Deputy Commissioner, told media persons here today.

He admitted that the local authorities were caught unaware but assured that the people would not be made to suffer during the monsoons.

“The control room equipped with adequate manpower and equipment has been set up and relief and rescue material like sand bags, tents, boats etc have been provided to meet any exigency in future”, he added.

He said that there was no storm sewerage system in Bathinda town and main sewerage lines were used for flushing out water and as a result the low lying areas like Power house road, Mall road, Civil lines, Bus stand and Sikri Bazar were the worst affected as water was drained out from these areas in the last.

He informed that eighteen pumps were in place and functioning properly while mobile pumps were pressed into service but the discharge was so much that it was not possible to clear water soon.

Municipal Commissioner K.K. Yadav said that Corporation must be complimented for its efficiency in flushing out the flood water within record time by working round the clock. Every effort was made to mitigate the sufferings of marooned people and besides providing shelter, food was also served to the people, he claimed.

The hanging electricity wires posed threat as leakage of current could spell disaster for people swimming their way to safety in flooded areas and power had to be shut down while operating the pumps to flush out water was not possible without electricity, he said adding that it was a tricky situation encountered by us.

Admitting that a proper drainage and storm sewerage system was urgently required, Yadav said that road construction was a major component of Rs 40 crore plan for development and Rs 3 crore is being spent on proper drainage system.

He further disclosed that coordinated efforts were being made by the administration, Municipal Corporation, Improvement Trust, Bathinda development Authority and water supply and sewerage along with health department to mitigate the sufferings of the people.

Bathinda, June 17
The Congress today intensified its campaign with its senior leader and former finance minister, Surinder Singla, canvassing rallies in more than 10 wards. Singla, who reached the city on Monday night, started early in the morning and visited ward numbers 5, 4, 3, 46, 2, 1, 50, 19, 20 and 47 till late evening.

Singla was accompanied by almost whole of the local Congress leadership including local MLA Harminder Singh Jassi, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) secretary, Tehal Singh Sandhu, Kewal Krishan Aggarwal, Anil Bhola, District Youth Congress President, Iqbal Singh Dhillon besides many others.

Singla, who has also been the local MLA in the last state government, was instrumental in the formation of BMC during the Congress regime besides bringing quiet a number of developmental projects for the city, work on which is still going on in full swing.

Speaking to TNS, Surinder Singla said, “BMC came during the Congress regime and it was our party which thought for the betterment of the city in real terms. Had the BMC not come into existence, all the Centre government schemes for Bathinda’s overall development would not have been there.”

“All the ongoing developmental projects for Bathinda came during the last Congress regime and whole of the money came from the Centre. Even now, state government is not spending a penny and the Centre’s money is being used,” Singla added.

Harminder Singh Jassi, said that the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) has done nothing for the development of Bathinda.

After Singla’s trip, Bhattal is also expected to visit the city along with other senior Congress leaders on June 19 and 20.

Bathinda, June 17
The Congress and Independent candidates of Parasram Nagar, Partap Nagar, SAS Nagar, Lal Basti etc, comprising 15 wards today urged the voters to “punish” SAD-BJP combine in the BMC polls for its alleged non-performance and failure to fulfil promises made after coming to power.

“Have they ever spoken a single word about development of our area? Instead, they are promising to change the face of Bathinda. They are just mentioning the amount to be spent for the development of city,” Vijay Kumar, an Independent candidate from ward 41 said.

“We have been struggling for over a year for getting basic facilities for the residents of the “across the lines” areas and our struggle will continue,” he added.

Vijay Kumar (ward 41), Shama Rani (ward 43), Neelam Devi (ward 40) (Independents), Satya Deepak (ward 37) and Jagroop Singh (ward 44) of Congress are spearheading the fight.

Rajinder Goldy, Congress candidate from ward 41 said he feared that bogus votes would be cast in the forthcoming elections. He urged the Election Commission to ask voters to carry their identity documents.

Bathinda, June 17
With the growing craze for ayurvedic drugs manufactured by the pharmacy of the yoga guru Ram Dev, the waiting list for the most sought Alovera juice has crossed 700 mark in a outlet here.

Alovera is considered a wonder cosmetic drug and is known to contain medicinal properties. Krishen Kumar Chhabra, who is running an outlet of the pharmacy here, said that more than 700 persons had booked with him their demand for Alovera juice that was in short supply. He was maintaining a register of those in queue for juice.

He said that the demand for drugs manufactured in the Hardwar-based pharmacy of Baba Ram Dev had increased manifold during the past some time. Many drugs were in short supply as a result of which people have to wait for it.

“At times we are unable to meet the demand”, he said. In Punjab there are about two-dozen outlets for the drugs of the Baba’s pharmacy.

Chhabra said that the demand for other drugs, including Hridya Amritvatti, Mukta Vatti and Madhunashini had also increased. These drugs were prescribed to those suffering from ailments of heart, blood pressure and diabetes.

He said NRIs visiting their homes here also carry back drugs from the outlet. About 45 patients every day visit the ayurvedic dispensary attached to the outlet and their number was gradually increasing, he said.

Fazilka, June 17
After verifying statements made by a victim of domestic violence, the police booked five members of a family for allegedly torturing the victim to bring more dowry.

As per the FIR, Sapna Ahuja, daughter of Pardeep Ahuja, was married to Amit Chhabra, son of Murari Lal on September 12, 2005. At the time of marriage, her father had spent nearly Rs 20 lakh to arrange for the dowry items.

Sapna alleged that two days after her marriage, her in-laws started torturing her to bring more dowry. When she expressed her inability saying that her father had already spent beyond his means, her husband accompanied by her parents-in-law started beating her.

She put up the case before the women police cell. The cell forwarded the matter to the SSP, Ferozepur, who further directed DSP Jalalabad Gurmit Singh to conduct a thorough probe.

After inquest, the DSP found that Sapna’s allegations were true. He also reported that Amit’s grandmother had tried to save Sapna and that some mediators had vainly tried to resolve the dispute.

In view of the DSP’s report, the SSP sought opinion of a legal advisor and directed the city police, Fazilka, to register a case against the accused for torturing the victim to bring more dowry.

A case under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005, and the IPC has been registered against her husband, father-in-law, mother-in-law Sunita Rani and sister-in-law Priyanka along with Raman and Gagan Chhabra, all residents of the nearby town Jalalabad (West). No arrest has been made so far.

Ferozepur, June 17
In the run up to municipal elections, the Congress leaders today charged the ruling SAD-BJP combine for trying to sabotage the electoral process and prevent the Congress candidates from filing their nomination papers.

Gurnaib Brar, president DCC, alleged that some BJP leaders today forcefully snatched nomination papers from Mandeep Kaur, a Congress candidate from ward no. 23, while she was on her way to file the papers at SDM's office.

Brar said that Mandeep told him that the BJP workers from Mallanwala village snatched her papers. He added that Mandeep had to make another set of nomination papers which she filed later.

Brar also informed that the car in which the workers had come was later seized by the Sadar police station.

PPCC’s general secretary Parminder Singh Pinki said the BJP workers also tried to prevent another Congress candidate, Rajinder Sethi, from filing his papers.

While lashing out at the ruling SAD-BJP regime, Pinki said the alliance leaders had vitiated the political atmosphere.

The Congress leaders also met senior police officials to apprise them about the developments and asked them to take appropriate precautionary measures to ensure free and fair elections.

Abohar, June 17
A total of 147 nominations have been filed for the 31 wards in the ensuing municipal council elections here.

The highest number of nominations (11) was filed from ward no 31, followed by eight from ward no 25 while only two candidates filed their nominations from ward no 23.

The Congress completed its list of candidates today with Parkash Kaur contesting from ward no 2, Sunil Kumar from ward no 16 and Subhash Dhaulia from ward no 27.

On the BJP's side, Baksheesh Singh Jamnia filed his nominations from ward no 8
and Om Parkash Ahuja from ward no 28 besides the candidates who had already
been declared.

Even when the authorities lamented that the total number of electorates in the town had decreased by about 8,000, as several migrant families from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar left for their homes after closure of two cotton spinning mills during the past five years, some prominent citizens were peeved.

Congress councillor Godha Singh said he had sought a party ticket from ward no 2 for his wife this time but was told that neither he nor his wife had been enrolled as voters in the revised list.

Former BJP councillor Sarv Shakti Arora said she had been working as headmistress in a model school for about 25 years and was a resident of the Jain Nagar locality but her name was deleted from the electoral rolls allegedly to stall her chances for contesting the elections.

Rashtravadi Congress Party activist Usha Sabharwal said she had failed to find her name in the voters list of ward no 2 from where she had announced to contest the civic polls.

The State Election Commission on June 11 had directed the district authorities to take action on her representation against deleting the name.

None had bothered in this regard so far. All of them have got photo identity cards. There were hundreds of similar complaints.

Mansa, June 17
On the last day of filing the nomination papers for the forthcoming civic elections to the four municipal councils of this district, a total of 364 candidates have filed their nomination papers today.

Scrutiny of the papers would be done on June 19 while June 20 is the last date for withdrawal of nomination papers.

The elections to Mansa, Budhlada, Sardulgarh and Bareta municipal councils are scheduled for June 30.

According to information, 142 candidates for 21 wards in Mansa, 68 candidates for 13 wards in Sardulgarh, 61 candidates for 13 wards in Budhlada and 93 candidates for 13 wards in Bareta had filed their nomination papers.

Eighteen candidates of the Congress are contesting in Mansa while 13 each are competing in Sardulgarh, Budhlada and Bareta.

The BJP has fielded seven candidates each for Mansa, Budhlada and Bareta, and one for Sardulgarh. Shiromani Akali Dal's 10 candidates are competing in Mansa, 12 in Sardulgarh and six each in Budhlada and Bareta.

It is notable that the SAD and the BJP are contesting the elections in alliance. The CPI had fielded seven candidates for Budhlada, four for Mansa and two candidates for Bareta. The CPI (ML) is contesting two seats in Mansa.

Bathinda, June 17
Bathinda boy, Amandeep Sharma would participate in the 1st World Deaf Volleyball championship to be held at Buenos Aires, Argentina in August this year.

Amandeep earned this distinction for his brilliant performance in the Indian Deaf Volleyball Championship held in February this year.

He would undergo three weeks intensive training before leaving for Argentina along with other team members.

21-year-old Amandeep, an executive member of the Punjab Deaf and Dumb Sports association, Patiala is also a good swimmer and enjoys playing Volleyball and Cricket.

A spokesman of the association, working for the welfare of deaf and dumb since 2002, informed that two of their players were selected for the Indian Deaf
Volleyball championship. 

All the members of the association including the Chairman Virender Sharma, President Tejinder Pal Singh and Vice president Deepak Jaiswal have congratulated Amandeep for his accomplishment.

Barnala, June 17
A labourer died due to alleged negligence by a local private clinic here today. He is survived by wife and three children.

The family members of the deceased alleged that Buta Singh died for want of medical treatment within time.

Buta Singh was working in fields at Bihla village, when he got a major heart attack. His family members brought him to a local private clinic for treatment.

Narrating the incident, Bhupinder Singh, an Akali leader of Bihla village, said that the doctor, owner of the clinic, demanded Rs 10,000, as advance money, for admitting the patient.

As the family was very poor, it managed to arrange only Rs 4,000, that too two hours after the patient was admitted. The treatment was started two hours late.

Mansa, June 17
A breach in the Bhaini canal distributory on Monday caused huge loss to the farmers of Tamkot and Khaila Kalan villages here.

The farmers are already reeling under debt and the breach comes as a bolt from
the blue.

Cotton crop on nearly 250 acres had been affected and the water had inundated as much as 400 acres of land in these villages.

The authorities swung into action only after farmers met the deputy commissioner Surjit Singh Dhillon to get the breach repaired.

Farmers’ leaders Ram Singh Bhainibagha and B.S. Balli said that it was the third breach that took place at Tamkot village.

They attributed the reason for breach to the negligence of the canal department that does not make regular repairs to the canal.

The leaders alleged that the department had not been taking appropriate steps to control the breaches. They demanded adequate compensation for the farmers.

SDO, canal department, H.K. Garg, when contacted, said water had been stopped and the repairs to the canal would be made to prevent any breach in future.

XEN of the canal department, Makhan Garg, could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

Meanwhile, Jaspal Kokhar and Sukhdarshan Natt, leaders of the Democratic Employees Front, blamed the corruption prevailing in the canal department for the breach, saying the officials of the department did not repair the canals properly.