Bathinda, July 20
Heaps of silt removed from the sewerage lines about a weak ago are lying across the city and is irritating all except the officials concerned.

The stinking muck has become a potential health hazard that threatens to get worse with the onset of rain.

The officials of the sanitation and public health departments are apparently waiting for the outbreak of some disease to take action.

Situation is grim on the Bathinda-Goniana road, the artery of the city, and on Amrik Singh road where various fruits and vegetables shops are located.

Almost every manhole is lying open since the last spell of rain. Machines meant for opening the choked sewerage lines are permanently installed there. All this has made the life of shopkeepers and passersby miserable.

“The Improvement Trust and the BMC spent crores on renovation of the 5-km-long stretch. But it seems, all went in vain,” said Parkash Singh, a motor mechanic.

Sukant Goyal, a dentist, said, “Muck was piled here about six days back. It is an infringement of human rights. We will wait for another two days, and then approach the state human rights commission.”

“Garbage dumped on main roads of the city is a blot on the face of the authorities concerned. But they are so thick-skinned that despite our repeated requests no one is ready to remove it,” said Mehtab Singh, a resident of Veer Colony.

The heaps of muck are also proving a hurdle in the smooth flow of traffic. “Earlier, we were suffering due to an unauthorised bus stop outside our shops and now this muck has added our woes,” said a spare parts dealer near Hanuman Chowk.

When contacted, Kamal Kant, executive officer, BMC, said by Tuesday morning the heaps lying on all roads would be removed.

Bathinda, July 20
Taking a notice of a report ‘Defacement of public properties goes unchecked’ published in The Tribune on Monday, the authorities concerned swung into action to remove the posters defacing the city.

The District Sainik Welfare department was the first to come out and remove the posters and bills pasted on the Fauji Chowk, where a statue of martyr Nand Singh is installed. Two persons were seen removing the posters at the chowk in the morning

 When asked, they said, “Due to a report published in some newspapers, officers ordered us to remove the posters from the chowk by noon.”

Mayor Baljeet Singh Birbehman said on phone, “We always welcome such positive ‘criticism’ from media, which remind us about the duties and make us aware about the public grievances.”

He added, “Taking notice of the report, I have directed the employees concerned of the Bathinda Municipal Corporation to remove the posters defacing the city. In addition, they have been directed to remain vigilant against such menace.”

Harnam Singh Wala (Bathinda), July 20
Having bagged the Nirmal Gram Puruskar (NGP) in 2008, Harnam Singh Wala is a village in Rampura Phul block in the district, which is proving to be a model village with its sanitation programme that made it a clean village where defecating in the open was put to an end.

Despite being populated by a majority of weaker sections of society--- Dalits, who call themselves as ‘Majhabi Sikhs’, the village has brought the topic of sanitation to the forefront of discourse on social and political development in the rural sector.

During a recent visit to the village, residents informed that they have completely eliminated the practice of defecating in the open, within the village boundary. Nobody, including the Baazigars, the nomads, defecates in the open.

Gurjant Singh, a villager, said that they had jointly adopted a resolution to ban defecation in the open, with a provision that anybody found guilty would be imposed a suitable penalty.

Showing the safely placed memento and certificate, signed by the President of India, Pratibha Devi Singh Patil, the sarpanch of the village, Piara Singh said, “It is a matter of pride for all of us, so I have kept in a safe.”

“The district administration had nominated our village, then, a team visited here. After taking a round, they left the village without disclosing any thing to us. Later, I received a letter, according to which I was called to Hisar to receive the award,” said Piara Singh.

The village was divided in two parts. On the one hand, big landholders and on the other, the poor, still dependant upon the remuneration received from big farmers.

Confirming the fact, Piara Singh said there were 10 havelis of Jagirdars located in almost half the village, while in the rest, the poor had about 350 small dwellings.

Though there is an absolute contrast in the economic status of both the communities in the village, there is hardly a difference in the cleanliness on the streets in the village.

Despite being narrow in comparison to the landholders’ area, these streets of poor community have their own drain channels.

Since receiving the award, people feel duty bound to keep their houses and adjoining areas spic and span.

In an attempt to derive benefit from the World Bank’s scheme of water purification plant, all Dalits and general category landlords have made a monetary contribution and work has been initiated, though it is at a snail’s pace.

It may be mentioned that Harnam Singh Wala village was among the three villages of the district, which bagged the NGP in 2008.

Motivated, following the award, the district administration has nominated eight more villages for the NGP this year, where the target is to be achieved.

Bathinda, July 20
A three-day 'National conference on advances in instrumentation' was held at the Adesh Institute of Engineering and Technology, Faridkot, from July 17-19.

The conference was inaugurated by Dr R.S. Khandpur, former Director-General of CSIO and CEDT at Chandigarh (now C-DAC) and the founder Director-General of Pushpa Gujral Science City at Kapurthala.

Dr Khandpur, in his inaugural address, gave details of advances in telemedicine, which would be a great revolution in healthcare in India in the near future as 70 per cent of the rural people have no access to modern healthcare systems while all the advanced medical services are concentrated in the 30 per cent of urban India.

The other main speakers at the first session were Dr V.R. Singh, former director of the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), New Delhi and Dr. K.K. Raina, deputy director and dean of the Thapar University at Patiala.

In his key-note address, Dr Singh outlined the advances in sensors, ransducers and measurement standards at NPL and the impact of these on new generation of instrumentation. Dr Raina gave an account of the advancements in various types of display devices.

On the second day, Dr Jasvir Singh, dean, faculty of engineering and Technology of the Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, presided over the morning session while

Dr P.S. Bhimbra presided over the afternoon session. In these sessions, a total of 60 papers were presented by researchers from all over India.

A large number of participants from the Thapar University, Patiala, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Guru Jambeshwar University, Hisar, S.B.S College of Engineering & Technology, Ferozepur, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee, IIT Delhi and GND Engineering College, Ludhiana, presented their papers at the conference.

The conference concluded Sunday with the last session chaired by Dr S.S. Bhatti, director-principal of the AIET, Faridkot, who gave mementoes to the invited speakers and guests of honour.

The vote of thanks was proposed by S. Gurfateh Singh Gill, Director (Technical Division) of the Adesh Foundation.

Muktsar, July 20
In a major drug haul, the Muktsar police claimed to have seized one kg of pure heroin, said to be worth Rs 2 crore, from three persons near Dabwali town on the Punjab-Haryana border here today.

It is said to be one of the biggest drug seizures ever made by the Muktsar district police till yet.

According to police sources, a police party led by the Muktsar CIA police station SHO Bhola Singh, acting on a tip-off, stopped a Maruti car ( AR 26 AL 6430) on the Dabwali-Abohar road this afternoon.

After a thorough check-up, the police confiscated one kg of pure heroin that was carefully concealed in various parts of the car in plastic bags. Its price in the international market is said to be Rs 2 crore.

The police has arrested three persons, Abdul Saleem, Alah Din and Sukhchain  Singh, all residents of Rajasthan.

A case under the Narcotics Act has been made out against all the three accused at the Lambi police station.

Sources say that ever since the Muktsar police launched an anti-drug drive in the district, this is said to be one of the biggest ever seizures.

Police sources disclosed that they were aware that a large quantity of drugs was being brought from Rajasthan into this district at regular intervals and this time they were successful in managing to infiltrate into the ranks of the drug smugglers.

Senior police officials revealed that they were hopeful of more such seizures in the near future and that they had made elaborate arrangements to nab drug smugglers in the district.

Ferozepur, July 20
A multi-million scam of embezzlement of money through fake bills of diesel and petrol by making fake entries in the log books and accounts of the vehicles that were not in working condition has come to light in the police department in Ferozepur district.

An FIR under section 409 of the IPC has been registered against a Deputy Superintendent of Police Bahadur Singh, sub-inspector Tilak Raj and head constable Om Prakash Handa in the Cantonment police station on Sunday night. However, no one was arrested at the time of the filing of the report.

A senior police official revealed to The Tribune that during preliminary inquiries, it has come to light that fake bills for 77,071 litres of diesel and 952 litres of petrol were passed in the MT section during 2007-08 by making wrong entries in the log books of as many as nine standing vehicles that were not in working condition.

Besides, fake bills for Rs 11,179 were also passed against repair works of vehicles that were not in working condition and were not at all used during the corresponding period of bills.

As per the details available, the scam first came to light on July 11, 2008, when head constable Om Prakash Handa and a constable Jagir Singh, both posted in the MT section, had a scuffle with each other over some issue and they separately complained against each other to the higher authorities..

In this incident, senior authorities of the police suspended Jagir Singh from service. After this, the suspended constable wrote complaints to the DGP and other senior authorities of the state government against Handa alleging that he was minting money through fake bills of diesel and petrol by making fake entries in the log books and accounts of the vehicles that were not in working condition by giving some documentary proofs.

On the directions of the DGP, the then DIG of the Ferozepur Range RP Mittal constituted a special committee headed by SP (D) of Muktsar district to inquire into the allegations made by the suspended constable.

In the inquiry, it was established that DSP Bahadur Singh, SI Tilak Raj and HC Om Prakash Handa were involved in the scam and minted money through fake bills.

A writ petition field by Jagir Singh with regard to this scam was also pending before the High Court of Punjab and Haryana.

Ferozepur, July 20
The ambitious “Adarsh School” scheme of the state government, under which it had envisaged to open modern schools under the PPP mode in 141 blocks of the state, has not taken off well as the corporate houses which had promised to contribute their mite in opening such schools earlier, have dragged their feet off late.

Last Wednesday, the residents of village Bukkankhan wala in this district, where the state government has established "Adarsh School", climbed to 200 feet high water tank of the village in protest against the non-opening of the school, the construction of which has been completed since the last two years.

The land for the school was given by the panchayat with a hope that the village children will get quality education, however, the school stands locked today, courtesy the building contractor, who is waiting to get his bills amounting to Rs 50 Lakh cleared from the government.

The case is not different at other places also. When asked about the same, the chief minister Parkash Singh Badal admitted that the Adarsh School proposal has not worked well, adding that at “our level, we have tried our best and even kept the reserve fund for the same.”

However, the industry did not show much inclination on expected lines. "It might be due to the recent recession, but we are hopeful," says the CM. Badal.

He talked about the school, he has established in his village. "It is one of the finest schools which will provide free education to the deserving students," says Badal.

Abohar, July 20
Five teachers of the Government Senior Secondary School here, who were going to Jalalabad to attend a rehearsal of the by-election, had a miraculous escape, as a canter hit the car that they were travelling in, near village Khuikhera on the NH 10 on Monday. The car was badly damaged.

As per the information, lecturers Madan Lal Goyal, Harinder Singh, Sant Ram, Ramesh Sharma and Virender Kumar left Abohar by 9 am using Wagon R (PB 15 D 7779).

At about 9.30 am when the vehicle crossed village Khuikhera, a canter loaded with soft drinks and ice suddenly entered the highway after unloading supplies at a roadside hotel and hit the car resulting in extensive damage.

However, the teachers sustained minor injuries. They were taken to the Community Health Centre, Khuikhera, from where they were referred to the Nehru Memorial Civil Hospital, Abohar, lamenting that X-ray facility was not available there. They were examined and treated in Abohar later.

The mishap worried other school teachers. They criticised the state government for forcing teachers of the Abohar schools on election duty in Jalalabad for the past ten years whereas Guru Harsahai and Muktsar are nearer to Jalalabad.

Terming it harassment, they resented that the state government had not paid them a penny even for the duty assigned during the Panchayat and Zila Parishad elections during the past two decades.

Most of them had been suffering from diseases as borewell water supplied in Jalalabad did not suit them, the teachers rued.

Notably, Abohar is located about 62 km away from Jalalabad whereas other towns fall within a 30 km radius.

Moga, July 20
The Bhartiya Kisan Union has demanded from the state government to bring in a legislation to streamline the system of lending money to the farmers by private parties, bring in transparency in the system of giving loans to the farmers through the cooperative banks so as to put an end to the prevailing corruption, give direct payment to the farmers of their produce from the coming procurement season of paddy and initiate an independent probe into the cases of high-handedness of the farming community at the hands of the moneylenders.

Hundreds of farmers under the banner of BKU gathered outside the Mini-secretariat, here on Monday. They gave a memorandum to the state government through the local SDM Ajay Sood with regard to these demands.

Bhupinder Singh Mahesari, general secretary of the BKU, said the farming community was passing through hard times in the state and the state government needs to wake up and protect their interests.

"The procurement agencies should give the payment through cheques directly to the farmers and there is no point in giving huge commissions to the middlemen," he said.

He alleged that the middlemen arhtiyas lend money to the farmers by charging them high rates of interest and in most of the cases, the farmers have to mortgage their land or sign 'pronotes' of higher amounts to get the money from them.

He said that thousands of farmers had committed suicide during the past three decades and thousands of others had lost their land to these money lenders.

"The state government should order a high-level probe through an independent agency into these incidents," the BKU leader demanded.

It may be mentioned that arhtiyas were making a big hue and cry across the state over the decision of the state government to give direct payment to the farmers.